


Repairing the Rusted Sword and Shield

by wishfulFeline



Category: Pocket Monsters: Sword & Shield | Pokemon Sword & Shield Versions
Genre: Aftermath of Violence, Alternate Universe - Medieval, Amputation, Eventual Happy Ending, Everyone is half-Pokémon and addressed as such, Fluff and Angst, Found Family, Gloria is Zamazenta and Victor is Zacian, Gloria loves to almost kill people, Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort, Kings & Queens, Multi, Platonic Cuddling, Princes & Princesses, Sibling Love, Slow Burn, Swordfighting, Swords & Sorcery, Victor is very quiet, Werewolves, all ships outside of the main five are minor but theyre there, everyone is royalty, everyone shows up by the last chapter, hop/victor and marnie/gloria/bede are the main ships, things get fucked up for a while but i promise its fluffy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-31
Updated: 2020-06-10
Packaged: 2021-02-28 19:35:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 9
Words: 40,915
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23412454
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wishfulFeline/pseuds/wishfulFeline
Summary: On a prince or princess's sixteenth birthday, if they are unlucky enough to be a second child, they are handed off to serve King Zacian and Queen Zamazenta. Their orders are yet to be refused when Prince Hop's birthday comes around, and after his older brother is unable to break this tradition, Hop is handed over just as princes of the past have been. He's left with no choice than to find a way to survive and find eventual happiness in his new situation living alongside the terrifying rulers and their obedient housekeepers.
Relationships: Beet | Bede/Mary | Marnie, Beet | Bede/Yuuri | Gloria, Dande | Leon/Sonia, Hop/Masaru | Victor, Kibana | Raihan/Nezu | Piers, Magnolia-hakase | Professor Magnolia/Poplar | Opal, Mary | Marnie/Yuuri | Gloria, Mary | Marnie/Yuuri | Gloria/Beet | Bede, Masaru | Victor & Yuuri | Gloria, Olive | Oleana/Rose | Chairman Rose, Onion | Allister & Saitou | Bea
Comments: 53
Kudos: 149





	1. The Most Terrible Birthday

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hop loses his freedom for reasons he doesn't know.

Today is Hop’s sixteenth birthday. 

That’s a good thing, isn’t it? It’s usually called a “sweet sixteen”, after all. But, for someone like Hop, this day can only be seen as a tragedy. For years (how many? Thirty? One hundred? Hop doesn’t know. No one has ever bothered to tell him) all families of royal blood have been held accountable to satisfy the needs of Zacian and Zamazenta. The two solitary legendary wolves. Every family is required to forfeit their second-born child on the child’s sixteenth birthday. Hop doesn’t know what the punishment for not fulfilling this tradition is, but seeing how distraught and reluctant his family is to do it, he assumes it’s so severe that they really have no other choice. 

The weeks past have set the fact in stone for Hop, with people bidding him farewell and giving him gifts to remember them by. Looking at his two bags of essentials makes him feel sick. It’s all in there. There’s nothing he uses daily remaining out in the open. What will his room become? A guest bedroom? Will his parents keep it like this until he returns? _Will he ever return?_ The prince feels the room closing in on him. He feels so small. 

All celebrations were done yesterday. It was a grand affair, and Hop is sure it’ll take all day for their staff to clean everything up from it. The sun has barely reached the horizon, the sky remaining a silvery blue before the sunrise reaches the clouds. Hop looks out his window. He can see their beautiful garden and their Pokémon waking up gradually. 

Tears start to build in his eyes. He isn’t allowed to bring his Wooloo, nor any other Pokémon. Without them and his older brother Prince Leon, he’s certain he’s going to feel all alone. Before he can start crying, his brother opens his door. 

“Hop? Are you ready to head out?” Leon asks. Hop despises how quiet Leon’s voice is. It’s so unlike him. Even in personal one-on-one moments, Leon is never a soft silent person. He’s charismatic and positive and loud in every way. But not right now. His eyes are downcast and his motivational smile is too forced to be comforting. 

“As ready as I can be,” Hop answers solemnly. Leon comes in and takes one of Hop’s bags while Hop takes the other. Leon hugs Hop with one of his wings. 

“You’re strong, buddy. It’ll be alright,” he insists. Hop bites his lip and lowers his ears.

He has no idea what to expect. How can he be strong? How can this be alright? His freedom is being stripped away. What are Zacian and Zamazenta going to use him for? Hopefully just as a housekeeper...but, there’s no guarantee. For all he knows, he could be a human sacrifice and this is the last day he’ll be alive.

Hop hardly says anything on his way out. His parents sob as they hug him goodbye, and he wishes he could tell them “Be back soon!” or something like that, but there is nothing he can say to make them feel better. _‘Only time can help them grieve for me.’_

Leon is the only one to accompany Hop from their family. Two castle guards and the coachman of the carriage are the only other people with them as they depart from their kingdom. The ride is long and mostly silent. Leon and the coachman try to make small talk with Hop, pointing out the scenery and it’s Pokémon as they pass, but it’s useless. Hop’s too devastated to talk about anything.

The air grows misty as they approach an enormous castle. Hop presses his face against the window. _‘That’s it, then? It’s almost as big as ours. Not nearly as pretty, though.’_

He looks around. It’s just a castle? No kingdom? No citizens or people? If there’s King Zacian and Queen Zamazenta, then what exactly are they ruling over? Hop huffs. No one has ever explained any of this to him. People just avoid the topic. He knows it’s likely been so he wouldn’t be afraid of this before the day came, but of course he’s been afraid of it regardless. The mystery surrounding the occasion just made him more anxious. He’d almost prefer if he’d been told “you’re going to be eaten by wolves” rather than “something is happening, you just have no idea what it’s going to be” like he has been. 

They arrive. Hop can’t stop himself from shaking. He sighs and takes a deep breath. He looks at Leon before they step out of the carriage. His brother is wearing an expression Hop can’t put his finger on. Is it anger? Determination? Thoughtfulness? 

Hop stands just outside the gate of the castle, shaking like a leaf as he stares at the steps in front of him. This may be the very last of the outside world he’s going to experience. Leon puts his hand on his shoulder. 

“I’ll walk you up.” 

Hop hums in acknowledgment, but he can already feel his tears building as he and Leon make their way to the castle's huge front doors. Leon reaches to grab the door knocker. Hop lunges at him, hugging him desperately. He sobs hard into Leon’s chest, clutching his torso. 

“Lee! I don’t want to go! I don’t want to go in there! I just wanna go home!” Hop wails. His older brother quickly drops the bag in his hand and hugs Hop back, wrapping his arms and wings around him protectively. 

“Don’t worry buddy. I’m not gonna let anything happen to you,” Leon says, voice certain. Hop’s grip loosens.

“What? How?” he croaks.

Leon knocks on the door. It’s quickly opened by a young woman with black hair and different colored ears, one brown and one black. Her face is indifferent as she looks at the brothers. 

“Prince Hop?” she asks, looking right at him. Hop nods, wiping away his tears frantically. “You may come inside. I’ll fetch the King and Queen.”

She holds open the door and the two princes step inside. Hop looks around in awe. The ceilings are incredibly high, and there's a grand staircase at the end of the long entry hallway, with two other hallways splitting in opposite directions next to the stairs. The lighting fixtures and wallpaper look old but well kept, although lacking in brightness and decor. It’s undoubtedly older than the castle Hop and Leon live in. 

The dark-haired girl quickly rushes down the right hallway. Hop fears they’re alone until suddenly a platinum blonde boy approaches from the other direction. His pink ears and purple eyes contrast greatly with their surroundings. “Welcome to our castle. The King and Queen will be here shortly. I can take your bags,” he says politely. Hop sniffles as they hand them over. It makes him feel even more uncomfortable, the uncaring eyes of the butler. Obviously no one so far is doing anyone to stop this…

Leon pats Hop on the head. While the blonde Sylveon retreats up the staircase, the silence is short-lasting as the sound of three pairs of shoes echo through the hall. Leon stands up straighter. Hop follows suit. 

“Queen Zamazenta and King Zacian. This is Prince Hop and his elder brother Prince Leon of the Knightley family,” the monotone Morpeko introduces.

Hop swallows hard at the sight in front of him. The so-called sword and shield heroes, Zacian and Zamazenta. They stand about as equally tall as Leon, both the pair the same height. The two both wear differing crowns, but their capes are matching, Zacian’s being blue whereas Zamazenta’s is red. The two share the same colored brunette hair and amber eyes. Their clothes are regal, entirely fitting of their titles. It makes Hop feel underdressed, and he isn’t sure what for. Are they dressed like this _just_ to meet him? _‘Do they dress like this every day?’_

“Welcome to our home, Princes! I’ve been so excited to meet you two. I’m Queen Zamazenta, as Morpeko said. Wooloo, I’m sure she and Syvleon can show you around the castle.”

Her voice is booming, overflowing with power and confidence. It makes Hop’s skeleton shake. 

“No need. Hop won’t be staying here,” Leon says immediately. Hop and the dark-haired maid look at Leon in shock. Zacian’s silence and stoic expression go unchanged. Zamazenta laughs at the proposition. 

“Is that so? And how do you suppose that is?” she says, putting her hands on her hips and leaning towards them. Hop wants to hide behind Leon. 

“You and I will duel for him. A swordfight. I don’t doubt my skills, and I know you two don’t either,” Leon answers. Hop has never heard him sound so certain and serious. He made no mention of this prior, acting as if he planned to just be Hop’s escort. A smile spreads across Hop’s face.

“Lee! You could do that!?” Hop says excitedly. 

Zamazenta grins equally as wide. “No one has ever had the gall to challenge me like this. How interesting!”

She turns to look at her maid. “Morpeko, fetch me my sword and shield and Zacian’s too. Don’t bother with armor,” she says before looking back at the taller of the brothers. “I accept your challenge! And I don’t expect to lose! You’ll use the king’s tools and I’ll use mine. You don’t mind, do you brother?” 

Hop almost thinks she means him before Zacian hums and shakes his head. _‘So Zacian and Zamazenta are siblings? I always assumed that as a king and queen they were married. But that definitely explains how similar they look. Twins, maybe?’_

“Follow along, then!” Zamazenta says, gesturing for them to come with her. Hop sticks close to Leon as the five traverse the castle. Hop and Leon are led to a large room with sleek wooden floors and concrete walls. Glancing around, with the dummies and wooden replicas, it’s easy to assume this is a training room for sword fighting. Hop’s insanely on edge. This is incredibly bold of Leon to suggest. They’re going to do sword fighting with real deadly swords with no armor. Would Leon get severely injured? Is it possible that this may even be a battle to the death? Leon would be in serious trouble for killing the Queen, wouldn’t he? Or was that normal considering the circumstances? Hop’s head is spinning. 

He’s surprised as Leon is taken from his side by the two housekeepers that have appeared so far. The Morpeko equips him with a shield and the Sylveon gives him a sword. Both are without a doubt gorgeous and obviously well cared for. 

“Sit with me.”

The voice suddenly so close to him makes Hop jump and squeak. He turns swiftly to face King Zacian. His heart leaps into his throat. _‘Sit with Zacian? Every second I stay here is another second I wanna try sprinting out the door!’_

He swallows down his fear and nods. Without another word, Zacian leads him to some wooden benches at the back of the room. He takes a seat before looking at Hop expectantly. Under the serious, piercing gaze of the King, Hop quickly obeys. He can’t stop his knees from bouncing with anxiety. 

“Well, did you want to do some stretches first? Or should we just get on with the show?” Zamazenta says nonchalantly. _‘She isn’t taking this seriously at all! Lee will definitely be able to win!’_

“Let’s begin. I don’t want Hop to have to spend another minute here,” Leon says. Zamazenta smiles excitedly.

“Exactly as I’d hoped you’d say. You’re just as brave as legend says! I’m not disappointed in the slightest. So please keep reaching my expectations.”

The Sylveon stands between the two of them while each one stands at opposite sides of the room. Hop quickly looks back and forth between them as the Morpeko joins him on the bench. 

“And… let the battle begin!” the butler shouts before quickly rushing to join the other three by the benches as well. He doesn’t sit down, still standing at high alert.

Leon and Zamazenta waste no time rushing towards one another and swinging into action. The clashing of their swords is ear piercing and Hop winces with each one. Every second feels like eons as he watches their frantic fighting. His stomach drops when he sees Zamazenta’s expression: One of pure joy, without an ounce of fear of failure. She slashes the side of Leon’s wing, making him cry out.

Hop leaps to his feet and gasps in shock. The dark-haired girl grabs his arm. “You can’t interfere.”

Hop yanks his arm away from her and hisses “I know that!” He looks back to the fight, terrified and clenching his teeth.

Leon successfully lands a blow on Zamazenta, slicing her shoulder. She shouts. Hop sees the way the girl seated next to him jolts, as if she too is about to stand up to rush forward. _‘So she feels the same way I do…? Does she care about the Queen despite being one of her captives? Must be Stockholm syndrome.’_

Zamazenta stumbles back, and in the second of hesitation Leon gives, she thrusts her sword forward with her body and stabs Leon in the gut. Leon screams and drops his sword. Hop starts to run towards him but the Sylveon rushes him and holds him back. “Don’t!” he growls, but Hop shrieks as he struggles to break free.

“Stop! Let me go! Can’t you see Lee’s hurt!? Let! Go!” Hop wails, fighting the Sylveon with all his might. 

Zamazenta steps forward and kicks Leon over as he clutches his stomach. When he stumbles back, she bashes his shield away with the side of her sword. “Oh no! Is the Prince hurt? Don’t worry, I won’t touch your precious abs again.”

She kicks him square in the chest, making him fall to the ground. She quickly presses her heel against his chest to hold him down, making him wheeze. Hop screams again and punches the blonde holding him, frantically struggling. Suddenly, he feels himself lifted off the ground. It’s Zacian, wrapping his arms around Hop’s waist, and forcing him to stay in place. Hop flails and screams, but Zacian doesn’t falter.

Zamazenta raises her sword again. Right above Leon’s neck. “How cruel of you, Prince. To make your parents lose both children in one day. I feel sorry for them.”

“Stop! No! No, don’t kill him, don’t kill him! I’ll stay here, just let Lee go, please! Don’t hurt Lee!” Hop sobs, clawing at Zacian’s arms. 

Zamazenta snarls and throws her sword to the side, getting off of Leon. “Will you shut him up, Zacian! He’s completely ruined my mood!”  
“Sorry,” Zacian says. He puts a hand over Hop’s mouth, which he quickly bites before flailing free of his grasp. Hop runs up to Leon, dropping to his knees and hugging his brother, sobbing into his arms. 

Zamazenta sighs. “Oh well! I guess it’s better off his way. No body to worry about, and I got my prize.” She walks up to Zacian proudly, handing off her sword and shield to the Sylveon. “Praise me, big brother!” she says cheerfully.

Zacian pats her head. “Good job.” Zamazenta giggles girlishly, before returning to her original demanding demeanor. 

“Morpeko, show our new house guest to his room. Sylveon, take care of the prince’s wounds before sending him home,” Zamazenta orders proudly. She walks off as if she’s entirely unphased by this, along with the bleeding gash on her arm. Zacian follows behind her, determined to help her clean herself up, knowing she likely won’t do it herself.

“I’m sorry, Hop,” Leon says with a sad smile. Hop shakes his head no furiously. 

“Don’t say sorry! It’s my fault! I-If I was just—If I was never born, then you’d be okay!” Hop wails. Leon cups his face in his hands.

“Don’t say that! You’re my little brother, and I love you, and...I’m sorry, I don’t want to say goodbye either.”

The two brothers cry in each other's arms until the blonde butler breaks the silence. “If you care so much about your brother, you’ll let go and let me bandage him up.”

Hop bitterly glares at the man before letting go and helping Leon to his feet. The two stand there looking at each other before Hop gives Leon one final hug. “I’ll miss you.”

“I’ll miss you too,” Leon replies before ruffling Hop’s hair. “Be good.”

That was it, then. The two parted ways, and for all they knew, it was their final goodbye. The Morpeko leads him out of the room as he sobs loudly. There’s no point in hiding it. She holds him by the wrist as she takes him up the stairs to a quaint bedroom. It isn’t as large as his one at home, but it’s still most definitely one befitting of a castle. It’s nice. It’s pretty. He hates it and doesn't want to stay in it. Morpeko sits him down on the edge of the bed. He sees his bags are already inside, placed next to the doorframe. 

“I never expected that to happen...no one has ever challenged the Queen like that before,” she says softly. Hop wipes off his face before looking at her. She looks solemn. “You’re brother must love you a lot.”

Hop sniffles and nods. “It makes me miss mine,” she says. He raises his eyebrows. _‘Oh yeah. If she’s from this exchange too, then she must be a princess and a second child too…’_

“I’m sorry,” Hop says weakly. She shakes her head.

“It’s okay. I’ve gotten used to it here.” She takes Hop’s hand and squeezes it, looking him in the eyes. “It’s lonely here, but you aren’t completely alone. My name is Marnie. That Sylveon is Bede.”

Hop gives a small smile in response to her comforting. “Thanks, Marnie. I’m Hop. I hope we can be friends.”

Marnie gives a shy smile back, like she isn’t quite used to doing it. “Yeah.”

“I know she’s really scary, but I promise that Zamazenta won't hurt you. Zacian won’t either. They’re intimidating, but they aren’t evil. They’re just doing their jobs,” she continues. Hop nods, but he has no idea what those jobs are. And he isn’t really sure if he believes her. _‘Definitely Stockholm syndrome.’_

“Do you care about them?” Hop asks bluntly. Marnie bristles and blushes before looking away.

“Just as they’re doing their jobs, I’m doing mine. I’m just another housekeeper now. They aren’t friends with me or anything like that.” Hop can understand that. _‘I guess that’s how things will end up for me now, too,’_ Hop thinks.

“You must be exhausted. And have a lot of questions. I’ll give you some time to settle in. I can tell you whatever you want to know in a bit, okay? And I’ll give you a tour like the Queen said I should,” Marnie explains, standing up and letting go of Hop’s hand. 

Hop sighs. It’s true. He has an insane number of questions and wants to pass out despite it still being morning. He’s grateful Marnie is so kind and polite. He has a feeling he’s going to end up relying on her a lot this first week or so. 

She leaves the room, closing the door all but a crack behind her. Hop can hear her distantly talk to the person he assumes is Bede. He sighs and puts his hands over his eyes. He wants to cry again but he thinks he’s all cried out for the day. _‘I’ll just cry more tomorrow or something.’_

He takes off his coat and shoes and slings the coat over the bed frame. Hop takes a few deep breaths in an attempt to calm his heart. It doesn’t work. 

Zamazenta and Zacian were _terrifying._ Zamazenta’s boundless confidence and brutal nature combined with Zacian’s indifference and stoicism made Hop feel like he’d die from fear if the two didn’t kill him themselves. He hopes he can avoid them as much as possible today, but knows that being in the same building as them for God knows how long would make that impossible. 

_‘I guess this is the beginning of the end of my life.’_

He has no idea just how much chaos he’s in for.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> YAHOO WOWIE A BIG AU FANFIC FOR MY FAVORITE GAME!!!!  
> anyone who knows me is aware victor/hop is my ultimate OTP, but all other ships that appear in this i love very much as well  
> heres a bit of lore if it wasn't understandable  
> -hop, leon, and bede are princes  
> -marnie is a princess  
> -queen zamazenta is gloria  
> -king zacian is victor  
> -everyone is part pokémon (i envision it in the way people usually draw, with the ears and tails, but i wont limit your imagination. theM being part pokémon is vital to the story, though)


	2. Becoming Acquainted

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marnie gives Hop a tour of the castle to end off his first day.

Hop wakes up with a panicked gasp at the touch of a hand on his back. Marnie pulls her hand away quickly, giving a quiet “Sorry.” Hop sits up and turns to look at her, eyes reflecting the sunlight coming in from the window. 

_‘Oh...it wasn’t a nightmare.’_

“You fell asleep. But I didn’t want you to think I forgot about showing you around the castle, so…” she explains, looking a bit sheepish before Hop quickly sits up, giving himself a head rush. 

“No, it’s alright! I don’t even recall falling asleep.” Hop yawns and contemplates if it was a Pokémon move that made him go unconscious, but files the thought away as a concern to think more about later. Marnie nods in understanding.

“Did you want me to give you a tour now, then? I could do it tomorrow instead,” she asks, not minding much either way. 

Wanting to just get it over with, Hop gives a half-smile and replies, “Now would be great,” before jumping to his feet. Marnie steps back as he does.

“Okay. Come along and follow me, then,” she instructs before leaving the room. Hop hurries behind her. The Morpeko isn’t rushing, but she **is** walking with a purpose. 

“I’ll go over upstairs, first, since we’re here,” Marnie explains. Hop uses the moment to take in his surroundings. It’s undeniable that the interior of the castle is pretty with all the different types of patterned wallpaper and the low hanging chandelier. The swirling staircase makes him think that every day going down it he’ll have to cling to the railing to not trip. 

The first room Marnie takes Hop to has double doors and an interior much larger than he’d expect from an upper floor room. It’s a library. It looks well kept, even if he can’t tell how it's been organized, or even if it _is._ He can see how dusty the top of the shelves are. _‘Since she can’t reach...and of course no one is helping her do it.’_ Hop notices. It leaves a sour taste in his mouth. He won’t let Marnie have to handle everything alone! Hopefully Bede was doing some things too.

“This is the library, but I think you can gather that,” Marnie says. “There’s a lot of different types of books, but most of them are very old. Then again, because they are, you may not have ever read them before. So, since your room is so close, I suggest you come by here when you get bored.” Hop nods and hums affirmatively. Despite being a high energy teen, he quite likes reading. It’s a good way to escape without actually running away. 

The two of them return to the hallway, continuing onwards past two locked doors and a bathroom. Marnie doesn’t comment on the locked rooms past the fact that they’ve been locked since she arrived. Hop finds it suspicious, but he thinks he can trust Marnie. She stops abruptly and Hop nearly bumps into her from behind. 

“Here are the King and Queen’s quarters and their bordiours.” She gestures to each door, the King’s room across the hall from his bordiour but next to the Queen’s, with her room then being across from that. 

“Are they in there right now?” Hop asks in a hushed tone. 

“Zamazenta is downstairs. Zacian is—”

Before she can finish, the man in question pokes his head out from behind his bordiour’s door. Hop’s jaw snaps close and his shoulders stiffen, entering flight or fight mode automatically. Zacian wears the same bored resting face that he’s had the entire rest of the day. He gives a small wave. “Morpeko. Thank you for showing Wooloo around. Be sure not to interrupt Zamazenta. She’s in the studio downstairs,” is all he says, monotone. It almost makes Hop shudder with the thought _‘he doesn’t sound like he has a soul.’_

Marnie, the Morpeko in question nods with a small curtsy. “Of course, your highness.”

Hop could _swear_ he sees Zacian momentarily glancing away bashfully as he nodded before retreating behind the door and closing it. But, that couldn’t be right, could it?

Hop heaves out the breath he’d been unintentionally holding. Hop huffs and puts his hands on his hips. “Do they always just call you Morpeko? Not even your name, just your species?” 

Marnie turns to look at him, eyes downcast. “I suppose it has always been that way...well, Zamazenta once called me—” Marnie says before cutting herself off and blushing upon recalling whatever it was she was about to say.

Hop brightens in curiosity. “When? Could it have been when you were taking care of her when ill? Or maybe vice versa? Or maybe...could it be she called you Marnie after you confes—”

Marnie shakes her head vigorously and waves her hands at him. “No! Of course not! It was just when I first came here! She called you your name earlier, too, remember?” 

Hop is disappointed to not have learned of any scandalous relationship between the Queen and her maid. It certainly would be romantic...maybe Bede and one of them…? He becomes eager to find out. But Marnie is right. She called him Prince Hop when he came into the castle. 

Marnie clears her throat, trying her best to force down her blush and the memory of what she was _actually_ thinking about. 

They turn around, heading back the way they came.

“The laundry room,” she says plainly, opening its door and gesturing inside. There isn’t much to comment on in her opinion, but the clothing hung answers a question Hop had earlier. _‘So, they do dress up like this every day.’_ Hop can’t understand why they’d go through so much effort daily just to be seen by only three other people maximum on a usual day. 

“Across the hall has some more cleaning supplies. The top floor isn’t as big as the first floor,” Marnie says.

“But… what about these rooms?” Hop asks, gesturing behind them. There are _four_ more doors they haven’t looked in.

Marnie shakes her head. “Locked. I’ve never seen them used. I don’t know what they’re for.”

Hop pouts. There are just too many mysteries surrounding and within the castle for Hop not to feel even more left in the dark than he was before. 

Marnie taps Hop’s shoulder and he’s pulled back out of his thoughts. “Downstairs, now,” she says before turning around and leading Hop back down the hall and down the spiral staircase. Just as he thought, looking down makes him dizzy immediately. He holds the handrail with both hands, and when Marnie notices she smiles to herself.

They’ve returned to the long entrance hallway. Hop sighs. Looking at the extravagant doors from the inside instead of the outside twists his heart painfully. Marnie points to two doors on each side of the entrance. “Those are coat closets. Where people can put their belongings when they visit,” Marnie teaches him. 

Hop remembers the ones from his castle. “Yeah,” he says quietly. He misses the smiling faces he saw daily that he always took for granted. 

“This way,” Marnie says, taking Hop’s wrist and tugging him along.

“Hey, I can walk fine by myself!” Hop whines, but Marnie shakes her head.

“Not when you keep spacing out every minute,” she responds. Hop pouts, but he can’t deny that she’s right. 

They walk along to a very cozy and well-decorated room with plush looking seats and low wooden tables covered in colorful glass. “Solar. The living room,” Marnie notes. It’s actually quite small compared to the ones Hop has been to, but it might be that one of the locked rooms was another one that they never used due to the hugely lacking numbers of visitors, staff, and residents. 

Carrying on, after passing another bathroom and a supply closet, Marnie gestured towards the…

“This is where the King and Queen practice sword fighting. But I suppose you already know that. It’s a family tradition for them.” 

Hop clenches his fists for a moment before sighing. _‘Yeah. That checks out.’_ A few yards past it is another door, fancier than the last, to a room lacking windows. “This is the armory. It’s locked right now,” Marnie says. Hop recalls the showy armor and swords Zacian and Zamazenta brought out to duel Leon with. _‘They probably don’t want us starting an uprising. That sounds kind of exciting…’_

“Across the hall here is the art studio. Zamazenta is inside. I believe that it was built for her when she was still a princess,” Marnie explains. Hop glances at her. She looks mystified, as if she were daydreaming. Hop wants to smile at her, but the reminder that they’re a doorway away from the terrifying Queen makes it hard for him to feel fond of Marnie. “Through the studio is one of the doors to the garden.”

Hop perks up. “The garden? As in _outside?_ ” he asks in surprise. Marnie nods. 

“It’s walled in. Don’t get your hopes too high. But it—it really is breathtaking,” Marnie describes. Hop’s curiosity is piqued.

“Can we go inside?” Hop pleads. She said _one_ of the doors to the garden. The tour could include that, right?

Marnie shakes her head. “The doors are locked right now. They aren’t unlocked unless the King or Queen is outside. You might be able to see it tomorrow, though. The King spends a lot of time out there.”

Hop makes a mental note. He isn’t too surprised to hear the King would want to be outside. Being trapped in a castle all the time should’ve made him go stir crazy otherwise. Marnie gestures for him to follow her again. 

“This is the great hall.” Marnie swings open two extravagant doors that take a bit of strain to tug open. Hop’s eyes go wide at the huge room in front of him. Of course he’s seen a great hall before, plenty in fact, but it feels so…

It feels so incredibly lonely to see one completely and entirely empty. The tables have collected dust and the air is stale and stagnant. The stained glass windows at the very end of the hall have become difficult to see through and faded with time. And beneath them are four empty thrones. 

“It’s so empty,” Hop comments. Marnie hums in agreement.

“It has been for a very long time. Ever since the old king and queen passed it hasn’t been used even once, to my understanding.” 

The words sting. The realization that Zacian and Zamazenta, obviously siblings and not wed, are King and Queen because of their parents' deaths makes his heart ache with pity. He can’t imagine losing his parents and watching Leon be forced into Kingship for that reason alone. With everything Marnie tells him about the castle, he starts to feel a little less hate towards the King and Queen. But the fear is unwavering. When Marnie closes the doors, they can hear the echo in the hall through the walls. 

“This way now.” 

Marnie takes Hop to the kitchen and pantry. It’s lavish and fully equipped with everything Hop would expect in a castle, but the large majority seems unused. There _is_ food in the pantry, at least. Hardly any salted meat or bread, which is a disappointment. 

“How do you even get food all the way out here?” Hop asks Marnie with a look of worry.

“Deliveries. Every two weeks. When they drop it off the King and Queen order for the next time. It goes back and forth like that, just like it does with the trash,” Marnie answers as if stating the obvious. “But the fruits and vegetables are from the garden. So don’t feel bad about taking a lot of those.”

Hop stares and blinks at her before asking “All of this is from the garden?”

Marnie nods. “The garden is really big. It’s an essential given the circumstances.” Hop nods several times in return. _‘If it’s really big, she and Bede will likely need my help to care for it from now on. I’ll do my best!’_

Marnie walks with Hop again in silence. “Here’s my room. And Bede’s room.” She takes him inside. Bede...isn’t there. Hop hasn’t seen him at all during the tour. _‘Is he with Zacian or Zamazenta? I feel bad for him.’_

Marnie sits on her bed with a sigh. “And that’s the castle. Most of it, at least. Hopefully, that was helpful. You can ask Bede and I if you can’t find something.”

“Thank you, Marnie,” Hop replies, swaying on his heels. She looks up at him with some surprise, as if she’s been brought back from a dream upon hearing her name. She smiles at him ever so slightly. Hop sits down next to her. 

“How long have you been here?” he asks. Marnie looks solemn again. 

“Almost a year now, I’d say. Bede came a few months after me,” she answers. Hop bites his lip. Marnie has had to spend an entire year away from her family and kingdom.

“You said you had a brother?” Hop inquires, changing the subject. 

Marnie hums. “I do. His name is Piers. We aren’t royalty by blood. He married Prince Raihan...well, King Raihan,” she explains to Hop. Hop gasps before smiling excitedly. 

“What!? For real!? Raihan and my brother are super good friends! Oh, Marnie, that’s amazing!” he cheers, bouncing on the bed next to her. She wobbles, gripping the mattress to steady herself. 

“Is it?” Marnie asks in surprise.

“Yeah! Wow, I can’t believe we’ve never met before now...we could’ve been friends!” Hop assures her with a smile. Her eyes sparkle. 

“Back home, for some reason I ended up with a lot of supporters...I guess it was because King Raihan had no sisters, so at the time the past Queen was the only woman in power. Everyone was really nice to me, and I loved them all very much, but...but no one was my _friend._ Just my follower or fan or whatever. It was kind of lonely, even though it touched my heart that everyone came to see me off…” Marnie tells him quietly. Hop decides he likes her. Marnie has been so nice to him so far, and is actually telling him about herself too. If they _could_ have been friends before coming to King Zacian and Queen Zamazenta’s castle, then wasn’t it just right to—

“Then from now on, I’ll be your friend!” Hop insists confidently. 

“You will?” Marnie asks, leaning closer. Hop nods and grins. 

“Yeah! You keep saying you’ll help me, but I’ll be helping you from now on too!” Hop assures her. 

Marnie turns her head to hide her smile behind her hair. “Thanks, Hop.” 

“Of course!” Hop bounces to his feet, suddenly rejuvenated to have at least one friend in this big empty castle. “I’m gonna look at the library. Do you want to come?”

Marnie shakes her head. “No thanks. I want to eat something.”

Hop puts his hands on his hips. “Got’cha! See you later, then!” He closes the door most of the way behind him as he leaves, and once he’s gone, Marnie smiles to herself again. _‘I made a friend. Piers would be happy.’_

Headed to the staircase, Hop sees something he didn’t notice before. Right next to the staircase is yet another door. It’s wide and flat and it’s easy to tell why he didn’t see it before; the wallpaper appears to go right over it, camouflaging it. _‘Marnie didn’t mention this. Did she forget?’_ Hop reaches out to touch it.

“It’s locked.”

Hop jumps at the sudden voice next to him. Luckily, it’s just Bede. There’s paint on his face and hands. 

“Where have—Have you been in the art studio with the Queen?” Hop asks quickly.

“Wh—!?” Bede hurriedly looks down at his shirt and then hands with a sigh. “Yes, I have been. She asked for my help.” 

Hop smiles curiously. “That involves putting paint on your face?”

Bede suddenly blushes, which Hop doesn’t expect. “No, of course it doesn’t! She’s just always so keen on _distracting_ me!” 

Hop notes that there…

Are two little hearts fingerpainted on Bede’s left cheek.

Before Hop can tease Bede about them he sighs loudly. “Before you get all curious, most of the locked doors are just locked because they’re unused. So don’t go breaking any hinges just for the sake of letting more dust into the halls.” Bede glares at him, but the blush hasn’t left his face. Hop takes it that the Queen has that effect on him. 

Hop throws his hands up in forfeit. “Okay, okay, yeesh! I’m not gonna break anything!” He starts up the stairs again with a cheeky laugh before adding, “Have fun flirting with the Queen!”

Bede fumes and stamps a foot. “It isn’t—We are **not** flirting!” Hop giggles as he hurries up the stairs to escape any pursuit from the Slyveon.

He catches his breath at the top of the stairs, clearing his throat as he stands up straight to force himself to stop laughing. _‘Are Bede and Marnie_ **_both_** _attracted to the Queen? Weird...they probably read too many romance novels,’_ Hop thinks. Thinking of the paint on Bede’s face, he concludes that at least for _one_ of the two that the feelings are partly returned. _‘Poor Marnie...maybe the King likes her?’_

Hop continues on his quest to the library. History books. History about the Sword and Shield heroes and Zacian and Zamazenta and whatever _this_ all is. He silently enters the library alone, and through the sheer curtains he can see it’s already grown dark out. He flicks on the lights which are, to no surprise, dim. He has no idea where they’d be getting electricity from, after all. Did they _have_ any electric type Pokémon? _‘Too many questions.’_

Hop starts shuffling through the books. Organized by authors instead of contents. _‘Great. Perfect. This is awful,’_ Hop thinks bitterly. _‘Guess I gotta start somewhere…’_

And so, he begins his boring **boring** _boring_ search through the many many library books. 

Until,

Hop nearly leaps out of his skin at the sudden feeling of hot breath against his neck. He quickly slaps a hand over the spot, spinning around to face the offender. Wide-eyed he faces the King. _‘Can I get a break from this guy today!?’_ The wolf stares back at him blankly, as if he sees nothing wrong with his complete invasion of Hop’s personal space. Hop huffs, face red. “Pardon me,” he grunts, before trying to step away from the King. He jumps in terror as Zacian traps him with his arms against the bookshelf. Hop looks into the glistening amber eyes of the beast looming above him. 

“What are you doing?” Zacian asks. Hop blinks in confusion. Every time he hears how soft and plain the wolf’s voice is, it leaves him even more shaken than a terrifying voice suited to his appearance would. 

“I’m...looking through the library. To see if you have any books about your kingdom,” Hop answers truthfully. Zacian nods in acknowledgment, eyes unblinking and searching. Hop feels like he’s being seen right down into his soul. 

“Do you like to read?” he asks. He’s so close that Hop can feel his body heat. 

Hop tries to avoid making eye contact with the Legendary King, feeling like he’ll get swallowed up in those eyes if he does so for even a second longer. “I do.” _‘I mostly want to know what the Hell is going on here, though!’_

“What do you like to read?”

It’s such an innocent question that without noticing Hop relaxes his muscles a little. Zacian can feel it. “I usually just want to read about Pokémon.”

“Me too. I like reading about Pokémon the most too,” Zacian says. Hop is stunned. He’s entirely unsure how to respond. Talking like this, the King almost seems...tame? 

“When you arrived, I was excited...I'd never seen a Charizard before,” Zacian tells Hop. Hop almost shudders at the memory. What a terrible, terrible time it was. But for Zacian, it was _exciting?_

Hop takes a second to consider the King’s point of view. When was the last time he had visitors? When was the last time the castle’s doors had been opened? When was the last time he’d seen anyone outside the castle? Hop had no idea. To his understanding, the only time other kingdoms interacted with Zacian and Zamazenta was when these depressing exchanges were done. And Hop had never heard of anyone challenging the two before Leon did. A life like that, with no visitors or neighbors or Pokémon…

It sounds incredibly lonely.

Against his better judgment, Hop feels a pang of pity for the wolves. To them, his arrival probably seemed like a good thing, whereas he saw it as the worst thing to ever happen to him. It doesn’t change his desire to escape but it makes him feel _something._

“What’s your favorite Pokémon?” Hop asks. His voice is softer than he means it to be. He’s intimidated by Zacian in every way, but somehow, this almost feels normal.

“Yamper. And Budew,” Zacian eagerly replies. Hop relaxes even more. To think that Zacian would like such small and adorable Pokémon...

“The Budew in the garden belonged to my mother,” the King states. His expression is unchanging, but the fact that he’s opening up some is obvious. 

“Does the Queen like the Budew too, then?” Hop asks. He turns his body now to be fully facing Zacian, back pressed against the books. 

Zacian quickly shakes his head no. “She thinks they are too weak. Gloria likes strong Pokémon.”

Hop raises his eyebrows. “Gloria?” 

Zacian lowers his head. “Zamazanta. Do not tell her I said her given name.” 

Hop’s stomach flips. _‘Her given name? The Queen’s name is Gloria? What is the King’s name?’_

Before Hop can ask, Zacian quickly takes a step back. “You may carry on,” he says quickly. Even without his face having changed in the slightest since their conversation began, the reaction makes Hop think _‘Is he embarrassed by his mistake?’_

“Just call my name if you require me. I will hear you from wherever I am in the castle,” he assures, before turning to leave.

“Then what is your name?” Hop asks boldly, speaking up before he has a chance to realize who it is again he’s talking to.

Zacian almost answers. He opens his mouth to speak the name no one but his sister has called him for many years. He manages to stop himself just in time. “Zacian. Just as your name is Wooloo.” 

He hurries off, leaving Hop stunned. _‘Just then...he made a sad expression, didn’t he? Or am I just projecting…?’_

He decides that maybe he’s had enough thinking for one day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THIS CHAPTER WASN'T VERY GAY BUT THE NEXT ONE IS SO GIT REDY!!!! <3 feel free to talk to me abt any of this AU stuff on twitter babes


	3. An Unseen Side

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hop helps Marnie by cleaning the art studio.

“Mmh...mum, nooo I don’t wanna get up yet…” Hop whines.  
Bede scoffs and gives Hop one last shove. “Ugh. Never mind, I shouldn’t have been nice enough to try and wake you up. It’s nearly afternoon, idiot,” he complains. 

Hop sits up and rubs his eyes, blinking them wide open in surprise. “Huh!? Oh...haha, oh it’s just you!” he says with a laugh. “Sorry, I have a pretty bad body clock when it comes to waking up on my own.”

“No shit,” Bede retorts with an eye roll. “I can’t believe Marnie put up with you non-stop for so long on your first day. Get up and get dressed. Stop wasting the day.”

Hop pouts. “I can’t believe you’ve already known me three days and you’re still so mean to me.”

Bede laughs bitterly. “It could be three _years_ and I’m still going to be treating you the same.” He leaves the room, nose in the air. 

“ _iT cOuLd Be ThReE yEaRs AnD i’Ll StIlL tReAt YoU tHe SaMe,”_ Hop says mockingly once Bede is out of earshot before getting up with a yawn and stretch. _‘Guess I ought to get dressed…’_

—

“You know, you didn’t have to wait for me,” Hop says apologetically. Marnie smiles with her eyes instead of her lips.

“That’s okay. It’s nicer than eating alone,” she says, taking a bite of her salad. Hop smiles even if he still feels guilty.

“Why doesn’t Bede ever eat with you like this?” Hop asks angrily. Marnie leans on her hand, missing a cherry tomato with her fork making it clack against the inside of the bowl.

“I guess he doesn’t like me,” she answers apathetically. Hop sucks his teeth.

“That’s rubbish. I bet he’s just jealous you’re so much nicer than him.”

Marnie covers her mouth with a giggle. “Just eat your food. I didn’t make it for you just for you to talk until it gets cold.”

Hop laughs. “Ask anyone in my family and they’ll tell you just how often I do that. You really don’t have to do anything for me like this, though. I know you’re already always doing it for the Queen. I’m not as lazy as her.”

“I’ll try and keep busy today. I’ve been just digging through the library these past two days and it feels so useless,” Hop says. “Is there anywhere you want me to clean up for you?” he inquires, leaning closer with his hands on the edge of the table. _‘Please say garden, please say garden_ —’

“Could you maybe clean the art studio?” Marnie softly requests. Hop raises his eyebrows in surprise.

“Oh! Oh yeah, sure! I haven’t actually walked around in there yet. The Queen is there so often I’d rather not interrupt,” he explains much more politely than he thinks of her in his head.

“I understand. I’m gonna dust the library after this. Bede is doing laundry, if you need him,” Marnie tells Hop. 

Hop, taking a bite of his warm sandwich, goes “Ah huh!” before chomping down. He thinks to himself _‘Once she’s done I’ll see if she could get to the top of the cabinets. If not, I’ll do it for her. For now, I’ll do what she asked me to.’_

—

Hop nervously peers into the Queen’s painting studio, and he’s in luck. She isn’t there. He sighs loudly in relief. But the relief is short-lived when he looks around the room. He hadn’t gotten a chance to really view it when Marnie showed him. He takes it that she doesn’t clean up after herself too well. _‘She should be more grateful to Marnie and the King for picking up after her,’_ Hop thinks in passing. 

The room is a pigsty. An artsy and beautiful one, in a way, but a disorganized disaster regardless. 

The canvas paintings are stunning. Borderline hyper-realistic if not for the contents of the images. Dancers with their limbs entirely separated from their bodies, replaced with wings or branches instead. Faces with eyes and eyes and eyes and nothing else. People melting together in a desperate embrace. There’s so much feeling and passion put into the paintings, they take Hop’s breath away. 

For a moment, he feels less afraid of Zamazenta. She’s abrasive and aggressive, but if she has the patience and creativity to make these, she couldn’t be a truly evil person, could she? He shakes the thought from his head. Someone’s talents don’t determine if they’re a good person or not. He still has no way to completely gauge her alignment. He can’t bring himself to trust in those sharp amber eyes. 

Beyond the paintings, there’s paint smeared just about everywhere. The floor is covered in dried puddles of paint, even if the form of footprints. The brushes are unwashed and sticking together. There are about ten different cups of dirty water littered about, each glass tinted a different hue. 

Hop was planning to go to the garden, but...it feels _wrong_ to walk away from such a mess without doing anything. _‘I shouldn’t touch the Queen’s things, but I’m meant to be a housekeeper now, aren’t I?’_

He rolls up his sleeves and recalls where Marnie showed him the cleaning supplies were. There was plenty to use, which he is surprised by before recalling what a huge mess he was trying to tackle. _‘Marnie and Bede must have to deal with this kind of stuff all the time. That sucks. I guess I better get used to it.’_ He puts together a caddy of brushes and soap and with a heave and two full arms he returns to the studio. Bede sees him in passing and raises an eyebrow at him, but says nothing more. _‘If Hop gets into trouble, it isn’t my problem.’_

Hop is out of breath by the time he makes it back. He drops the mop in a loud clatter and rushes to close the door so as to not draw attention to himself. Would Zamazenta be angry if she found him in her art studio? It’s not like it’s closed off or anything…

Bending down to pick up the mop he notices some smaller canvases laying down on a lower shelf. They’re all equal sizes, and one is still glistening with wet paint. Hop gnaws his lower lip before taking the risk to shuffle closer and gently pick one up to look at it. He gasps softly seeing a portrait of Marnie. Her fingers pressed to the corners of her lips in a mock smile. Even if the smile is small and subtle, there’s a relaxed sweetness in her shimmering turquoise eyes. Hop smiles back at the picture. _‘I can tell Marnie really cares about Zamazenta. And even if she doesn’t quite show it, I think the Queen might care about her as well.’_

It makes him happy seeing something so soft and simple amongst all the other artsy and complex pieces. He looks at the next canvas and exhales in amusement to see it’s Bede. It has a different energy to it. Bede isn’t smiling, rather looking wistfully out of a window. His expression isn’t one of despair, just thoughtfulness. Sunlight highlights his pale skin and attention-catching purple eyes. It’s difficult for Hop to stop staring at them. The background is much more complicated than that of the one of Marnie, with Bede quite obviously seated in one of the castle rooms. Hop can’t recognize which one, so it’s likely somewhere he hasn’t been yet. Maybe somewhere he isn’t allowed? Outside the window is vibrant green grass covered in different types and colors of flowers. The sky is pure baby blue, untainted by even a single cloud. In comparison to the inside, outdoors looks so much more beautiful. 

_‘Maybe Zamazenta wants to leave the castle just as much as we do…’_ _  
_ _‘...Why can’t she though?’_

Hop knows he can’t possibly decipher the answer to his own question. There are far too many gaps in his knowledge of the sword and shield heroes history. He puts the stunning painting of Bede down before carefully taking the final canvas which is still drying. 

It’s him. 

He’s shocked and puzzled before he’s enraptured. It’s so much different from Marnie and Bede’s. As opposed to the serenity their paintings had, Hop’s painting emanates an aching sadness. His arms are wrapped around himself tightly as he curls in on himself, wailing in pain and eyes overflowing with tears. Just like the last two paintings the eyes are the focal point. Bright gold in complete contrast to everything else in the painting. 

Hop stares at it in thought before putting it back down and making sure they’re in the same order he left them. He realizes this is actually the only way Zamazenta has ever seen him. Wailing and screaming for his brother. Hop takes a deep breath, standing up with the mop in hand. He huffs with determination. _‘I’ll show her that I’m not just some crybaby! Even in a situation like this, I’m not going to give up!’_ With that thought, he got right into the strenuous and time-consuming task of cleaning the art studio. 

He loses track of time, consuming hour after hour. But after filling up three trash bins and washing at least thirty paintbrushes, he washes his hands to signify he was finally finished. It’s difficult to scrape the paint out from under his nails and cuticles so he eventually gives up figuring it’ll flake off in the next few days. Even after all the time and effort spent cleaning the room, he now has to take out all the garbage, wipe down or wash the cleaning supplies, and return them to where they were left. 

“Where would I put this?” Hop asks Bede after barely managing to wave him over with his arms full of trash.

Bede gives an overzealous sigh. “Marnie didn’t tell you that much? Ugh, just...fine, I’ll help you.” Hop misses the way Bede smiles if only for a second when turning to help pick up some of the garbage Hop is taking. 

“Thanks, Bede!” Hop says with a grin. Bede blushes but grimaces to hide it.

“I just don’t want you leaving a mess for us to deal with,” Bede excuses before leading Hop to the first floor’s trash chute and explaining the process of when it would be picked up and disposed of, along with where laundry and food waste would go. Hop listens attentively which catches Bede off guard. He’s never been held in the position of a teacher before and somehow the way Hop smiles at him and matches his eyes makes him jittery. He has to take a second to calm his heart when Hop jogs away.

 _‘I shouldn’t get attached,’_ Bede insists to himself. _‘We aren’t “buddies” or anything of that sort. I shouldn’t put my trust in him. He’s just going to end up a runaway or dead like the others.’_

Even with such thoughts, Bede can’t help the little twinkle of hope in his heart that maybe Hop could become someone that could alleviate the loneliness that has plagued him for much longer than he’d lived at the castle. 

Hop looks at his work with pride. There are paint stains and scratches on the floors, furniture, and walls that only buffing and repainting could repair, but aside from those temporarily irreparable flaws, Hop has succeeded in cleaning the studio to a highly noticeable degree. He chuckles deviously to himself. _‘Won’t they be surprised! That the crybaby Wooloo is this talented and useful!’_

He leans back on a table before stumbling and falling to his knees, not quite being able to catch himself out of exhaustion. On a shelf of equal level the painting of him was on, he notices more paintings. Another three. _‘There’s Zacian and Zamazenta, but who else could she have painted? Maybe their parents?’_

He picks up two paintings at once, one in each hand. 

The first is a very small young Mimikyu boy with sleek black hair and a mask hiding his face. Through the masks eye holes are two wide terrified purple eyes. He’s slouching and slumped over, arms slack at his sides. He looks more like a doll than a human, what with his ragdoll like body and hidden face.

The second is a feisty looking Pancham girl. Her hair is cut bluntly at her chin and tied with a big black bow. Despite her attire bordering on regal, her expression is one of burning hatred. Silver eyes narrowed in a glare with her teeth angrily beared. She looks tense in every sense of the word. 

The two paintings couldn’t be more in contrast with one another. Aside from the fact that they’re painted in a way that when placed side by side the background flows together as if it were only one painting. The thought crosses his mind that the Mimikyu boy couldn’t possibly be sixteen. So, if he came with this teenage girl, is it possible that rules have since then changed? Or was he a one time case? Had she forced him to accompany her? Or was it the other way around? 

And where could they have possibly disappeared to now?

Hop shakes himself out of his daze. Again, he’s done nothing but given himself more questions than answers. 

Just as he is about to reach for the third painting, the door to the studio opens. Hop scrambles to his feet. In walks Zacian. _‘Just perfect, one of the two people I most want to avoid.’_

As he has the past times they’ve encountered one another, Zacian approaches Hop until they’re only half an arms-length apart. 

“Did you do this?” Zacian asks lowly. 

Hop, assuming correctly that he is asking about the room’s cleanliness, answers, “Yes, I did.” He braces himself for whatever response he’s going to get. 

Zacian’s eyes widen. “It looks fantastic.” Hop can’t help but grin. He’s just so happy that this has been a success! 

He doesn’t quite process the fact that he’s subconsciously valuing the reactions the King and Queen give him. There have only been a few words they’ve exchanged, but thus far none of them have been cruel. He’s gradually started to decide, whether he realizes it or not, that he’s almost _comfortable_ around Zacian. _Almost._

Unpredictable as always, Zacian pats Hop on the head. “Good job.”

Hop automatically flushes bright red before jumping back. “What are you doing!?” Hop squawks in shock.

As if nothing is wrong, Zacian calmly replies, “Praising you.”

Hop’s eyes widen as he recalls one of the first times he’d ever heard Zacian speak. After Zamazenta’s battle with Leon. 

_She walks up to Zacian proudly, handing off her sword and shield to the Sylveon. “Praise me, big brother!” she says cheerfully._

_Zacian pats her head. “Good job.” Zamazenta giggles girlishly, before returning to her original demanding demeanor._

_‘So...maybe this is the only way he knows_ **_how_ ** _to praise someone?’_ Hop thinks. It doesn’t make him any less embarrassed. 

“I’m going to the garden. Do you want to come with me?” Zacian asks, changing the subject. Hop freezes. _‘The garden...I’ve only seen the tiniest of peeks, but it has always seemed beautiful. What would it look like at night?’_ he wondered. When Marnie tried to show him the entrance was locked. Through the other two doors outside he’s only been able to peer through the windows. And this would be alone in the dark with Zacian. Hop inhales and holds it before answering quickly.

“Okay!”

Zacian nods wordlessly before walking to the back of the room past Hop and opening the door. Hop almost wants to sigh at just how impolite Zacian always is, but he supposes that being isolated for so long might diminish someone’s social skills. Hop quickly hurries after him, frustrated at the difference in the length of their strides. 

It’s stunning.

Hop gasps, stopping dead in his tracks as the door drifted closed behind him. The garden’s size was comparable to the great hall and even under the purple twilight sky he can see the expanse of flowers swaying in the soft breeze. He closes his eyes, taking a deep breath. It hasn’t even been a week, but it feels like a month since he’s breathed in the delicious fresh air of the outdoors. Being in a garden behind a castle so far away from any sort of pollution or filth makes it even more delightful. Hop clutches his chest. For a moment, he feels happy. If not for this disastrous occasion he’d have never seen such a beautiful place.

When he opens his eyes he’s startled to see Zacian is turned, watching him and waiting for him to follow him. Hop opens his mouth to speak but doesn’t have time to make a sound before Zacian says, “I want to show you something special.” 

Hop raises an eyebrow. He doesn’t understand why Zacian would want to show _him_ something special. Maybe it was just because he happened to be there. That’s the answer Hop accepts in his mind. He walks up to Zacian and smiles awkwardly. Zacian looks back at him with the same indifference his eyes always seem to hold before catching Hop off guard and taking hold of one of his hands. Hop’s reflex is to jolt away and yank his hand free, but the gentleness of his grasp...Hop can’t stop himself from feeling a fluttering in his chest.

_‘He really just doesn’t know what is and isn’t appropriate, does he? I suppose I can just humor him for now.’_

Zacian leads Hop along a patterned stone path that swirls through the garden in many directions, but he seems to know exactly where he’s going. Hop tries to look around at the variety of plants growing, noting just how few he could recognize. It was obvious that there was an immense amount of thought, care, and love put into it. _‘I wonder if Bede or Marnie tends to it. It must take a lot of time.’_

“Here,” Zacian says, breaking the silence. Hop looks up at him before following his gaze to the bush in front of them. It doesn’t look particularly interesting aside from the fact that there are a lot of buds that appear to be close to blossoming. Hop examines it for a moment before giving Zacian a small smile.   
“What makes it special?” Hop asks. Zacian doesn’t take his eyes away from the plant to answer. 

“They’re moonflowers. They only bloom on warm summer nights. Like now,” he explains. Before Hop can ask more, Zacian quickly drops to one knee and whispers excitedly, “They’re starting.”

Hand still in Zacian’s, Hop squats down next to him. 

And just as Zacian said, right before Hop’s eyes the pointed white buds slowly spin outwards into wide five-pointed flowers. Within minutes most of the buds have opened. It feels like watching fireworks or shooting stars. Hop can’t look away for even a second. 

That is, until he hears the familiar cry of “Budew! Bedew!” Hop quickly looks to his side, the origin of the noise to see Zacian, holding a Budew in one arm, with another next to him. Zacian holds a finger to his lips, softly shushing them. It makes him feel something he can’t quite put his finger on. Zacian, so gently holding a Pokémon up to watch the flowers...it was so unbelievably pure. Hop doesn’t notice that he’s suddenly started holding Zacian’s hand tighter until he turns to look at him.

Zacian tilts his head to the side, one of his ears flicking _adorably_ before asking “Did you want to hold one too?”

Hop can feel blood rush to his face as he quickly yanks his hand away. _‘What in Arceus’s name was I just doing!?’_

“Yeah! Sure!” Hop says, voice cracking and louder than he meant it to be. Zacian _smiles_ and it only fans the flames of that unexplainable _thing_ clutching his heart. With both hands, Zacian gives the Budew he was holding to Hop. He then picks up the other one next to him. It’s only then, no longer mesmerized by the flowers, that it really was more than just them who had come to see the flowers. Caterpie, Bounsweet, and Oddish too had gathered to see the display. Hop can’t stop himself from gasping before breaking out into a wide grin. Pokémon! Actual real in-person Pokémon! Hop scoots around to face them, and while some retreat back, a few approach him curiously. Hop is overjoyed, dropping to his knees to get lower to the ground. He outstretches his hand to pat some of them. Zacian brought him to see the flowers, and now he was getting so much more. 

“They look happy to see you,” Zacian comments, nearly startling Hop. 

Flustered, Hop replies, “I suppose so. I’ve always been pretty good with Pokémon.”

“That’s so cool,” Zacian comments with excited eyes. Hop can hardly believe the fact he’s hearing the King call him _cool_ of all things. 

Hop laughs to dissipate his nerves. “I guess so!” He takes a long exhale. He doesn’t know why his heart is beating so fast. “How do these Pokémon even get in here? Do they belong to you?”  
Zacian shakes his head. “There are exits and entrances specifically for the Pokémon. For the most part, only very small ones can get in and out. Occasionally larger Pokémon are able to scale the walls, but it isn’t often,” he explains. Hop is surprised just how easily the King gave such information to him, but he’s grateful for it...very grateful.

If Pokémon could get in and out of the garden freely, then

There was a possibility he could as well. There was a **very good** possibility he could actually escape from the castle through this garden if Zacian just let him see where.

“Can you show me more tomorrow?” Hop asks eagerly. Zacian’s eyes widen. Before he nods quickly. He seems just as eager as Hop is. 

The purple sky has now reached its full navy darkness of the night. Zacian places the Budew back on the ground before standing and once more offering Hop his hand. Hop hesitantly accepts his hand and is pulled to his feet. Carefully maneuvering around the small Pokémon that scatter around them, Zacian leads Hop back to the door from which they came. Hop is a bit disappointed they didn’t use a different door that before...it would make formulating an escape plan much easier. But Zacian would show him the way tomorrow. Without even knowing it, he would be helping Hop abandon him. 

Once inside, Zacian releases Hop’s hand, who quickly steps away from him. “Thank you for accompanying me,” Zacian says. His expression has returned to the one Hop has grown used to seeing him have. Lips drawn into a straight line and eyes devoid of light. 

_‘I can’t understand why he makes a face like that so often...is there something wrong with him? Could it be that maybe he doesn’t want to be alone again?’_ Hop thinks before scolding himself for sympathizing with his captor. _‘I’m turning into Marnie…’_

“Yeah. Thank you for showing me,” Hop responds before the two of them exit the art studio. Hop is so curious to know what the last painting he didn’t get to look at was, but there was no chance for him to do so without seeming suspicious. 

—

Hop busts into the library with a loud slam, sending Bede flying into the air in shock. “Bede! I have an idea!”

The taller Sylveon turns to look at him furiously. “Are you a lunatic!? It’s nighttime, stop screaming! What do you want!?”

Hop hurries over. “Marnie told me you were here right now.” _‘Because it turns out he noticed too, didn’t he? That she can’t reach the very top. Even if he won’t say anything, he cares about her too. He must.’_

“Please,” Hop begins, clutching the hands of the bristling blonde. “I think I might have an idea on how to escape. Tomorrow, I need you to distract Zamazenta for me.”

Bede looks down at him sadly before looking away with his practiced confidence. “What are you talking about? Why should I do that for you?”

“We’ve talked about it before, haven’t we?” Hop reminds him with determination.

_“Have you ever tried to escape before?” Hop had asked._

_“I don’t have any reason to leave here. I don’t care where I end up. I don’t miss anyone from the outside world,” Bede said bitterly, looking away._

_Hop looked at him with shocked confusion. “What? For real? What about your family? And your sibling?”_

_“I care about them as much as they care about me. Which is that they don’t,” Bede answered, voice filled with a hatred Hop hasn’t heard so strongly from him before. Hop doesn’t prod the subject anymore._

_“Why? Are you planning to?” Bede asked._

_“I’d certainly like to,” Hop muttered._

_“Why not try it? It isn’t my issue,” Bede said nonchalantly._

_Hop turned to him, eyes sparkling. “Would you help me?” he whispered._

_Bede thinks for a moment. “I don’t have anything better to do.”_

Bede sighs loudly. “We have. Are you gonna tell me your plan, at least?”

Hop nibbles his tongue. “Well...it’s not complete yet.” Bede is ready to face-palm before Hop keeps talking. “But I’m going to use Zacian. He’s going to show me all of the garden tomorrow. Including how the Pokémon get in and out. So, I’m gonna try and stay outside with him as much as possible tomorrow and once I know enough and I have a moment alone, I’m gonna take my shot.”

Bede thinks instantly _‘It isn’t going to work. Ever since Bea left, there's no way Zacian will...well, if I keep Gloria distracted…’_

“Fine. I’ll distract the Queen for you tomorrow. Is that all?” Bede asks, submitting to Hop’s will. Hop bounces excitedly. 

“Yeah! I’ll tell you liiike half an hour before I’m gonna try and bust out, okay? Thank you so much!” Hop lunges forward for a hug but Bede easily steps back out of his way, leaving the Wooloo to stumble forward. 

Easily regaining composure, Hop says, “I’ll pack up a little adventurers pouch tonight then! I better get started!” He leaves the room with a skip in his step and a grin on his face. _‘I should start off writing a goodbye letter to Marnie telling her how lovely she’s been and then_ —’

Bede rests his hand against his heart. He doesn’t know why he feels so disappointed. _‘Did I actually expect him to want to stay here with us? Why would anyone want to?’_

 _‘Gloria and Victor are the only two who have ever wanted me around,’_ Bede thinks, feeling a mixture of sadness and anger.

How could anyone feel wanted after being abandoned by **two** families? Handed over to a shoddy orphanage at birth to be raised by people he decided to himself never could really have cared about him. Friends that only ever left after time. When he **finally** thought he had a home, adopted by a couple, Oleana and Rose, and given a friend in the form of his new elder sister Gabriella,

It turned out it was nothing but a farce.

For him to become their second-born child so that when they had a new child of their own blood that it could remain in their possession while Bede would be the one they could easily give over when he reached sixteen. 

Not that he’d ever tell anyone that but Gloria.

He’d gladly be the one to distract her, if it meant that he could spend time with her. 

Not that he could ever tell her that either. 

—

Tying up a small bag of only his absolute essentials Hop puts his hands on his hips to stretch his back with a triumphant chuckle. _‘This will definitely work! I’m the little brother of Prince Leon, after all! And then...I’ll definitely find out what’s going on here, and somehow, I’ll make sure Marnie and Bede can go home again!’_

A thought crosses his mind he didn’t imagine ever would. _‘And I’ll make sure Zacian and Zamazenta can be free from this too.’_

He doesn’t know why he feels a tinge of sadness. He’s leaving them without having taken any time to truly know them, without knowing why they’re isolated all alone like this without any family and only having other members of their household in the form of those who could only be described as _sacrifices._

Hop looks down at his hand, remembering the one that only a few moments earlier held Zacian’s.

_‘I never even learned his name…’_

He doesn’t know why he’s so sad finally being able to return home.


	4. Opening the Doors

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hop puts his escape plan into action.

Hop puts his hand on the handle of the door to the garden with determination. Today was the day. Today had to be the day he would make his escape. All he needed to do first was get all the information about the garden from Zacian beforehand, and if that meant spending the next few hours with him to seem trustworthy, so be it. 

Before opening the door, it suddenly swings outward before he gets a chance, yanking him forward. He collides headfirst into Zacian’s chest who stumbles back as well. 

The two steady themselves before Hop quickly jolts away, realizing they were nearly hugging. 

“This is convenient. I was just about to go retrieve you,” Zacian says, the smallest smile on his lips. Hop doesn’t like the way it makes him feel like his throat is full of cotton. 

“Yeah, don’t worry, I didn’t forget!” Hop replies with an intentional cheerfulness. Zacian perks his ears up. 

“That’s good. I’m glad. I thought about last night a lot,” he says as if it isn’t _completely embarrassing._

Hop can’t help but blush and look away. _‘There’s no way I can say I did too, especially considering my plans for the day.’_ “I see,” he says instead. “Well, you can show me around now, right?” Hop asks, getting back on track eagerly. 

Hop’s level of enthusiasm is so foreign to Zacian it makes him feel an affinity for Hop the same way he might a cute Pokémon. “Of course I can,” Zacian says with a curt nod. 

And once again, to Hop’s annoyance, Zacian takes hold of his hand again. It makes him feel overheated and flustered and far more awkward than when anyone else has ever held hands with him. He chalks it up to how intimidating Zacian is. He assumes if Zamazenta held his hand he would feel the exact same way. Zacian, foot still in the doorway, leads Hop outside. It’s truly a lovely day outside. It’s still warm and the sky is bright, but there are puffy white clouds making their way across the horizon along with a slight breeze too. Hop can’t possibly imagine it being more lovely outside, especially when the aromatic and refreshing air of the garden reaches his nose. 

Seeing it during the day Hop is instantly met with vibrant colors for as far as he can see. The flowers are carefully trimmed and contain dewdrops which glisten in the sunlight. Hop’s takes a slow breath, unintentionally squeezing Zacian’s hand when just meaning to close his fist. 

“Do you have a favorite flower?” Zacian asks, voice and expression as soft as the cottony clouds above them.

Hop scrunches up his face and thinks. “I don’t really know. I never thought about that before…”

Zacian follows up with “Do you have a favorite color?” without hesitation. 

“Oh! It’s blue!” Hop answers quickly. When Zacian lowers his ears in embarrassment Hop realizes that said ears are covered in blue fur. 

That, and Hop notices Zacian is wagging his tail. He can hardly repress a laugh. _‘That’s really cute.’_ He mentally slaps his face to put himself back into focus when Zacian starts to tug him along. 

Hop stumbles along behind him, irritated once more by their height difference. _‘I’m just a late bloomer...I’ll definitely be taller than Leon one day! Plus, he and Zacian are adults, so it only makes sense they’re taller.’_ As they’re walking, Hop almost wants to ask Zacian to slow down. He can’t stop himself from looking in every direction as they’re going. Hydrangeas, daisies, daffodils, tulips, roses—

Hop stumbles and trips, right into said roses, with an embarrassing screech. Zacian is yanked towards him by his hand, dropping to his knees. Hop sits up, dirt on his pants and leaves in his hair. With a wince, he lifts his hand up and looks at his palm. A rose thorn had pierced him. He sighs. 

“Are you alright!?” Zacian asks with an urgency that catches Hop off guard. It is true that to his memory Zacian has yet to have seen him get injured. Hop is reminded of Leon and how protective he is of him. It makes the thought pass his mind that it’s possible Zacian cares about him, but the thought leaves his head as quickly as it came.

Hop gives a small laugh for the sake of alleviating some of Zacian’s worry. “Don’t worry, I just got a little scrape. You were walking too fast!” 

Zacian frowns. “I’m sorry. I didn’t realize. Where’d you get hurt?”

Hop widens his eyes at the fact that the **King** was apologizing to **him,** who was essentially just his captive maid. “It’s just a cut on the back of my hand. It’s no big deal. I’m not so weak as to let something like this scare me!” He grins to further prove the point of _it’s fine! I’m okay!_

Zacian takes Hop’s bleeding hand and examines it. He sighs, eyebrows furrowed. Then, he continues to set Hop’s senses ablaze as he seems to have a habit of doing by _raising the hand to his lips and licking the blood off the wound._ Hop shudders with his entire body before yanking his hand away in shock. 

“What are you doing!?” Hop interrogates, eyes wide and cheeks quickly flushing red. 

“Licking your injury,” Zacian says.

Hop’s eye twitches. “I know that! Why!?”

“Doesn’t that make it hurt less? I thought that maybe because I’m a fairy type…” He shuffles in place as if now he’s _finally_ getting embarrassed about it. 

Hop sighs loudly, face beet red. “It’s fine. Y-You’re seriously so weird…” he comments.

Zacian has the audacity to smile. “Am I now? You should tell me when I’m being weird, then.”

Hop feels that stuffy feeling in just lungs again, like he can’t breathe even though he is. “Well, for starters, you’d usually only hold hands with your girlfriend.”

“Do you want me to stop?” the wolf asks, golden eyes giving Hop no hint as to his feelings on the matter.

Hop gnaws his lip. “No, it’s okay.”

He feels like an idiot. Accepting to hold the King’s hand for absolutely no logical reason. But he **wants** to and he has no idea why. He pushes the confusion away, insisting to himself it’s just because he’s lonely that he wants to be touched. That’s the only reason it could possibly be.

Zacian helps Hop to his feet who thanks him. He takes a pause to look at the roses.

“To be honest, I never really liked roses,” Zacian says solemnly. 

Hop cocks his head to the side. “Why? Why have any then?”

“They were my mum’s favorite. I can’t possibly ever get rid of them. It would break her heart,” Zacian answers, voice lowering in volume. Hop turns to look at him and sees the subtle sadness Zacian has on his face. 

“I hated when she’d come in with cuts on her hands from them. I always wanted to go outside and rip all the thorns off the stems, but I knew she’d be angry,” Zacian says, sadness turning into nostalgia. “So, even if they hurt me, I’ll always keep them around.”

The double meaning of _they hurt me_ makes Hop’s heart ache for a second. He doesn’t want to feel so softly towards the wolf considering his imminent betrayal but fighting the feeling is a futile endeavor. 

“What happened?” Hop asks before he can swallow the all too personal question.

Zacian looks at him with shock before taking a shaky breath. “She...she…” He looks down at the thorns on the rosebush. “She died. That’s all. Father too. On the same day.”

Hop can immediately gather that Zacian absolutely doesn’t want to talk more about it, but the small amount of information he gives him makes Hop feel like he’s been punched. Losing both parents in a single day. And Hop can gather that following that, possibly due to the past King and Queen’s passing, everyone in the castle and surrounding area disappeared. 

Did they die too? Or all move away? Was it a famine? Outbreak? Massacre? He knows it’s likely the only way he can find out in his current situation is through those in the castle, but that would soon change. Even if Hop had decided he hated it in the lonely kingdom (if it could even be called that), his curiosity was eating away at his patience. For the sake of himself and saving Bede and Marnie Hop’s first mission upon returning home is to find out everything he can about this unfair and painful situation. 

Zacian clears his throat and keeps walking. “Here. I wanted to show you these.” He stops by a section of lovely bright blue flowers. “They’re Morning Glories. But maybe you already knew that. Zamazenta really likes them. I thought you might like them too if your favorite color is blue.”

Hop smiles and raises one of his eyebrows. _‘Is he trying to entertain me?’_ “They’re really pretty,” he says, humoring him. 

Zacian smiles, pleased with his answer. 

He plucks one of the lovely blue flowers off the plant and puts it in Hop’s vest pocket. Hop’s shoulders shoot up and he snaps his jaw shut in surprise at the action. Before Hop can say anything, Zacian, with an affectionate look that makes Hop feel like he’s getting tied up in knots says “It suits you.”

Face reddening again in complete contrast to the flower, Hop fiddles with his bangs awkwardly. “You think so…? Ahaha. Thank you?” He finds it difficult to meet Zacian’s eyes again, now becoming more aware of the fact they were _still_ holding hands. 

“I’ll keep showing you more,” Zacian says with confidence. Hop nods and clenches his free hand at his side. _‘That’s why I asked to come out here. I need to stop getting sidetracked.’_

Zacian continues to lead Hop through the swirling paths of the garden. For the first quarter it’s essentially all flowers, but past that it trickles down to only having flowers surrounding the perimeter of the garden. In a small fenced area he sees fruits and vegetables growing. Tomatoes, blueberries, peppers, carrots, and other things he isn’t sure he can recognize without going in. _‘So this is where the things in the pantry come from. How convenient. It must take a lot of tending to, just like the flowers. It’s insane it’s so lovely back here with only Bede and Marnie caring for it.’_

“Back here, do you know if Bede waters the flowers and Marnie waters the food-bearing plants or if it’s vice versa?” Hop asks. He figures with how much time Zacian spends outside he should be aware. 

Zacian looks at him before **laughing at him.** Hop’s heart launches from his chest up into his throat before crash landing and exploding in his stomach. He can’t handle the fact that his immediate thought at the King’s unrestrained laughter is _‘He’s so cute!’_ He wants to burrow his head in the dirt in shame for such a thought. _‘No! The King can’t be cute! He probably eats people or something!”_ he yells at himself.

“What!? What did I say!?” Hop demands to know.

“ _I’m_ the one who takes care of the garden. They help me water and weed on occasion, but for the most part this is the thing I dedicate myself to,” Zacian answers with amusement. The smile on the face Hop had become accustomed to seeing emotionless makes the lovely answer even more impactful. It’s obvious he’s proud of that fact.

Hop gapes at him. “So _that’s_ why you spend so much time out here?”

Zacian nods. “I do like to read out here sometimes and see if we have any little visitors, but for the most part, yeah, that’s right.” Hop swallows hard. _‘And all this time I assumed all the chores were left up to those two…’_

Hop swerves his train of thought back to his mission of the day as Zacian’s words remind him of the Pokémon that come to the garden. “Do you think there are any Pokémon back here today?”

Zacian hums. “Maybe. It’s so pretty out I wouldn’t blame them for playing somewhere more open, but there’s usually at least one or two. Budew are pretty much a constant.” He smiles with his last sentence and Hop recalls Zacian saying it was one of his favorite Pokémon. 

“Here, let’s check!” he says, eagerness making Hop feel guilty for using this growing bond between them to take advantage of him. Zacian leads Hop to a thick berry tree near the back wall of the garden. Hop can hardly believe the garden feels just as big as it looks now that they’ve fully traveled across it. Zacian let’s go of Hop’s hand and—

_“Why do I…_

_feel disappointed…?’_

Wiping his sweaty palm on his pants Hop watches Zacian rise to the balls of his feet and reach his arms up into the branches of the tree. To Hop’s astonishment he sees right before his eyes a Skwovet crawl down his arm to rub around his neck and cling to his shoulder. When Zacian pulls his hands out of the tree he takes out a cheerful Cherim that calls out to him as if they were already friends. 

“Lucky day, huh?” Zacian says calmly. Hop thinks to himself _‘This makes me see him as more of a Princess than a King.’_

Hop jolts as suddenly Zacian is thrusting the Cherim into his arms and the Skwovet is leaping onto his head. “Wha—! Hey!” he wails in surprise.

“I think it would be good for you to get acquainted, seeing as I'm already familiar with so many of our Pokémon visitors,” Zacian says. Hop can _swear_ that the smile Zacian gives him is mischievous. Hop nods with a small laugh even though he knows that doing so is a useless endeavor if he is to leave today.

No no, _when_ he leaves today. No ifs or buts. He’s surely going to make it happen. 

Zacian gestures for Hop to follow him. Hop, now with two passengers, walks behind him to a charming table with chairs in the middle of the grassy clearing that takes up the very last quarter of the garden aside from its fruit trees. 

“This is where I usually sit to read. And all this space is where Gloria and I would play as kids,” Zacian says before slapping his hands over his mouth. “Zamazenta. Zamazenta and I would play as kids.”

“Why are you so uncomfortable using your real names?” Hop asks with a pout. 

Zacian furrows his eyebrows. “Because that’s what everyone calls us. It doesn’t make much sense to go by our first names if everyone only recognizes us as Zacian and Zamazenta.”

It’s like Zacian’s voice runs it’s fingers across Hop’s heartstrings as if playing it like a harp. He’s entirely right. Never once had he ever heard the Legendary Pokémon ever referred to anything other than their species and titles. It was so impersonal and distant sounding. Hop can’t imagine ever being called Prince Wooloo by anyone unless it was for a joke. It must hurt Zacian and Zamazenta a bit to not have anyone close enough to them that could call them Gloria and...whatever Zacian’s name really is. 

Hop clears his throat to break the silence. “So how exactly do the Pokémon get in?” 

“Oh, sorry, I forgot about that part.” Finally, Zacian takes hold of Hop’s hand again. And _‘finally’_ is indeed the word Hop uses in his mind to describe it.

Zacian shows Hop some small gates along the sidewalls of the back of the garden. “There are entry gates and exit gates based on which ones open inward or outward. And the fence outside the stone walls has little tunnels!” he describes cheerfully. Hop takes mental note after mental note. 

“What about bigger Pokémon?” Hop asks.

“There’s a few stones intentionally jutting out on the outside of the wall. They can be used like a ladder that way,” he answers. Hop nods.

 _‘To get out through one of these little gates it’d be a tight squeeze, so I should probably climb one of the trees to jump over the wall. And once I do that I’ll probably have enough time to check out the tunnels Zacian mentioned and if they’re big enough for me to fit through. But if I can’t, maybe I could scale the fence or widen the gaps with my hands or legs? I’m strong enough for that, I bet! And I don’t know what the fence is exactly made out of, but there’s no way it’s indestructible, especially considering they had to make_ **_two_ ** _barriers between here and the outside…’_

Hop is sure of himself. This will work. All he needs is a way to distract Zacian and a chance to tell Bede that he’s putting his plan into motion. 

Hop intentionally makes a little whine to get all of Zacian’s attention. “Have you eaten yet today? I haven’t.”

“Are you hungry? Let’s go inside then and get something,” Zacian says, happy to accommodate him. 

“Yes please!” Hop says sing-song. With Zacian’s help he gets the Cherim and Skwovet off of him for them to walk back through the garden to use the kitchen entrance. Hop assumes it was made so taking food from the garden inside to wash and cook would be easier. Hop stretches when they walk back inside. 

Hop turns to Zacian inquisitively as he goes to the pantry. “Marnie told me you can only buy food every two weeks. What do you usually eat? Does she cook for you?” He walks up behind him to look.

Zacian shrugs. “Sometimes. The Queen asks her too, much more often than I do. She was the one who asked Marnie for a birthday cake when we turned seventeen. I usually just eat, um...whatever is here, I guess.”

Hop gasps at the scandalous confession for multiple reasons. “Marnie hasn’t even been here for a full year, so...so do you mean to tell me **you’re seventeen!?** ”

Zacian turns to look at him, eating just a plain slice of bread. “Yes…? How old did you think I was?”

Hop flails his hands around. “I don’t know! At least twenty or something! Your voice is so deep and you’re so tall!”

Zacian chokes. “ _Twenty!?_ And Zamazenta always tells me I have a baby face!” He laughs. “I don’t know how to feel about you saying that...I’m tall and my voice is deep because I’m Zacian, you know? It’s just a trait that comes with being the equivalent of a Legendary Pokémon.” 

Hop hums. That makes sense. “Wow. I guess you’re right, but I seriously can’t believe you’re a year older than me.”

“Almost exactly a year older, actually,” Zacian says, making Hop perk up in curiosity. “You arrived only a week after Zamazenta and I turned seventeen. It felt like you were…” Zacian looks away, the typically brash boy a bit shy to say “It felt like you were my birthday present.”

Hop screams inside as his stomach explodes with Butterfree. _‘I can’t believe he can say something so cheesy! It sounds like an old lady romance novel!’_

Hop hides his face in his hands. “You really just said that, huh?”

Zacian chuckles, putting a hand over his mouth to muffle it. “I did, didn’t I? Is that weird? You did say I do a lot of weird things.”

Hop bristles and puffs out his cheeks. “Yes, it is weird! But something that’s even weirder is the fact that you’re eating just a plain slice of bread! Do you seriously not prepare _anything!?”_

Zacian nods as if nothing is wrong with that. “Typically. Food is food.”

“You’re a monster! A fiend! How can you say that!?” Hop wails over dramatically. “Food isn’t just food! It doesn’t just fuel your body, it fuels your _soul!_ Do you know how to make _anything!?”_

Zacian blinks a few times. “Scrambled eggs?”

Hop groans loudly. “Okay, I’m gonna pay you back for today and yesterday, showing me all the flowers. I’m gonna teach you to make curry if it kills me!”

“Curry?” Zacian asks.

“Yeah, curry. Have you ever had it? It’s the first real dish I ever learned to make since it’s my brother's favorite food. It’s super easy!” Hop says, reminiscing. Zacian shakes his head no. 

“Okay, here’s what we’re gonna do!” Hop says, taking off the little bag of essentials he’s been wearing the entire time when planning for his great escape. He pulls out a tiny notepad and scribbles down the ingredients. “Here! Get these! And I’m gonna set up everything outside!”

Zacian cocks his head to the side. “Outside? In the garden? Not in the kitchen?”

Hop puts his hands on his hips. “It’s way more fun that way! It’s how I learned. That, and we can give some to the Pokémon too.” 

Zacian smiles at that and nods affirmatively. “Alright! I can do that!”

Zacian’s enthusiasm makes sparks fly in Hop’s brain as he turns to start grabbing supplies from the kitchen cabinet. Someone comes up behind him. He assumes it’s Zacian before Bede hisses “Are you forgetting something?” Hop launches a foot in the air before spinning around to face Bede and then sighing with relief.

“Oh, it’s just you. Thank goodness,” Hop says with a shaky laugh.

“Yeah, yeah, it’s just me. Aren’t you supposed to be outside?” Bede asks bitterly.

Hop nods several times, bouncing his fists in front of him. “I’m about to be! The plan is going great! I was actually about to go find you!”

Bede crosses his arms and raises an eyebrow, a playful smile tugging at his lips. “Oh really now? And pray tell what you wanted from moi?”

“Twenty...no, thirty minutes, let’s do this thing! You talk to Zamazenta and I get Zacian to leave me alone outside and I’m gonna make a run for it! I’ve got it all mapped out in my head!” Hop whisper yells to him. 

Bede nods. “Yeah, I’ll get to it.”

As he turns his back to Hop to walk away he gives a mock salute before adding “It was nice knowing you.”

And even if it’s easy to mistake as sarcasm, he really means it. 

Hop gets right back to work grabbing all the things he needs. 

—

Once the two are finally both outside at the table Zacian swears Hop’s smile is shining more than the sun. He squints slightly in its brightness.

“I know making it indoors would be faster, but doing it like this just...tastes better, I think,” Hop says, squatting down to adjust the firewood beneath the pot. _‘Why do they have all of these things even though they’re all alone? This castle could easily house a huge family and has the tools and supplies to support them. Yet, everything remains untouched. It’s kind of wasteful. But even more it’s just sad.’_

Zacian’s tail sways in the air idly. “You are a prince, are you not?”

Hop glances at him with an eyebrow raised. “I am.”

“Then why do you cook?” Zacian asks cluelessly.

Hop stands up straight and puts his hands on his hips. “Are you serious? What would that have to do with being a prince? Everyone should know how to take care of theirself. I’m not a child.” 

Zacian shrugs. “Fair enough.”

“In your situation I would have assumed you’d know a ton more about it than me,” Hop adds. Zacian grumbles.

“How am I supposed to learn if no one teaches me?” he says.

The words sting Hop some but he’s easily able to retaliate with “I’m sure there’s cookbooks in that big library of yours. Just do some trial and error!”

Zacian leans back in his chair with a whine, knife and carrot in hand as he peels it. “I’m not gonna. I’ll just make you teach me from now on.”

Hop wants to bang his head on the ground. _‘Don’t say that, don’t say that, don’t say that!’_

“Fine, fine, if you insist. But you should’ve been asking Marnie and Bede about this stuff already,” Hop lies. 

Zacian hums, picking up another carrot and placing the clean one down. “I just never really felt up for it.”

Hop turns to look at him in confusion. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Zacian opens his mouth to speak but nothing comes out. It takes him a second to choose his words. “Wooloo, a lot of things have happened to Zamazenta and me.” He looks away wistfully. “For a pretty long time after our parents died I didn’t want to do anything at all. I just wanted to crawl in a hole and let myself—” Zacian coughs before turning back to face Hop. “Zamazenta got me back into the swing of things. She’s a good sister, even if she’s a loud one.”

Hop forces a smile on his face, but it’s completely out of sympathy. It makes him feel like garbage to have Zacian finally opening the doors to his personal feelings to Hop just before he runs away. But it wasn’t like Hop aimed to accomplish this intentionally. For some reason Zacian had chosen him to be the one he would trust. Was it because Marnie and Bede were already so dedicated to Zamazenta? Was that the only reason he would go so far for him?

“I’m glad you two have each other. My brother is a really good sibling too. You saw how much he wanted to protect me.” Hop rises back to his feet to start taking the prepared ingredients from the bowl on the table to put into the pot to soon begin the curry. “I miss him a lot.”

Zacian grabs Hop’s wrist as he reaches for them.

Hop’s throat is suddenly so dry he can’t swallow. “Zacian…?” he says nervously.

“Wooloo. You want to leave, don’t you? You want to leave the castle and return home,” the King asks. His tone is demanding and reverberates through Hop’s skeleton, making him wince.

Hop braces himself, forcing his eyes to return to looking into Zacian’s. “Of course I do.”

Zacian doesn’t seem shocked or angry at all. He just stares back. The absolutely unthinkable happens. 

Zacian wraps his arms around Hop and hugs him. It’s a gentle and fearful embrace, as if he were cradling fine china. Hop turns hard as stone. “I’ll allow it one day. I can’t give you freedom now, but I can promise that one day following the darkest one that you can return home.” 

Hop shivers. His words are incredibly vague, but… _’He’s going to free me? Even if not now, he_ **_promises_ ** _he will?’_ _  
_ Hop returns the hug, just as softly. His touch is light and shaky, but it causes Zacian to cling to him closer. Hop’s heart throbs. _‘The “terrifying” Legendary King Zacian is nuzzling up against me.’_

“Zacian, what do you mean by ‘the darkest one’? What is the darkest day?” Hop asks anxiously. _‘Would he need to defeat Zamazenta to free me? Would he need to battle someone of great power to break tradition? Why else would he keep doing it?’_ _  
_ “Victor,” Zacian says.

“Victor?” Hop repeats. _‘Is that his enemy?’_

“My name...when you first came here, you asked me my name. My real name is Victor,” Zacian explains. He pulls away from Hop’s arms to face him again. Somehow, he looks as if heavy armor has been taken off his back, that suddenly he is more alive than before.

“Victor…” Hop says again, looking at the King. _‘Zacian’s name is Victor. King Victor. It suits him.’_

Before Hop can pose his question once more, a horrific scream shreds through the silence. Victor jolts to his feet immediately. “Sylveon!” he shouts. _‘That was Bede’s scream!? Oh fuck, our plan!_ **_I nearly forgot about our fucking plan!_ ** _’_

Giving Hop one last glance, Victor rushes inside the castle. Hop watches his back disappear inside as the screams don’t stop. They only become more frantic. Hop starts hyperventilating as his knees start to buckle. _‘There’s no way thirty minutes have passed! Something bad has happened! But_ — _But right now_ —

_Everyone is inside! This is my chance! I could run away right now! This is the perfect opportunity I was looking for!’_

Hop’s breathing gets faster. The name echoes in his mind. _Victor._ The promise he made to him. “ _I’ll allow it one day. I can’t give you freedom now, but I can promise that one day following the darkest one that you can return home.”_

Hop clenches his teeth and shuts his eyes so hard he feels tears start to form. He runs inside as fast as he can.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> and here comes the chaos


	5. Lies and Impulses

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bede making the choice to help Hop changes his way of life irreversibly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: This is the chapter the graphic violence warning is for. If you're squeamish about written gore, I'd say you should just skim the first half of this one.

Bede makes a decision that will later almost cost him his life. 

He decides to waste no time waiting an entire thirty minutes to talk to the girl he loves. Why would he? After all, he’d likely have gone to see her regardless of whatever idiotic decision his Wooloo housemate decided on. He didn’t expect it to _matter._

They had each other, didn’t they?

That wasn’t where Gloria saw an issue.

Bede knows exactly how Gloria likes her coffee. Only a little bit of milk and sugar. She likes the bitter taste and powerful smell whilst Victor has very different tastes. Bede carries it up to her in a flowery teacup that he knows she likes, because despite everything she still has a feminine side that she only shows in private because being too girly openly would “taint her image.” 

He knocks with the back of his hand on her bedroom’s door frame and there’s no longer than a second before her voice rings out with, “Come in, Sylveon.”

Bede rolls his eyes at the way she calls him by his species just as Victor insists on doing. She tells him it's another “image” thing. The only reason he doesn’t hate it is because it makes it all the more special when she does call him by name. 

Gloria says she’ll say Bede all he wants once they’re married. 

He assumed it was a joke in the moment, but since then he’s only managed to fall more in love with her. Regardless of how much those feelings were returned, Gloria had become the first and only person Bede had decided “love” was a word he was willing to use.

How depressing such a love was about to be stained red.

Bede enters Gloria’s bedroom and approaches her. She swings her legs over the side of the bed and before he can place the coffee down she takes it right from his hands to down nearly the entire cup. He smiles at her and says “Did you want me to bring you more?”

She shakes her head and places the teacup down. “No, it’s fine. It’s cute that you brought me something without request.”

Bede hums in acknowledgment. “If it gives me an excuse to see you.” 

“You don’t need an excuse, you know,” Gloria says, smile softer than the face splitting grin she more often sported. It makes Bede’s skin feel hot. 

Trying to repress his blush, he coughs and turns away. “I suppose you’re right.”

“Yes. I am,” she says. 

Before he can reply, when he meets her eyes he sees they don’t match her smile at all. Cold and piercing. “I wonder why the excuse this time had to be you helping the Wooloo to escape.”

Bede bites his lip. Of _course_ she’d have found out one way or another. Hop was **loud** and if Marnie or Victor found out they’d likely have informed her first and foremost. 

Bede runs his hand through his hair. “That? I doubt he’ll be able to do it. Even with as much energy he has, he doesn’t seem to be very bright. Zacian will easily be able to stop him, I’m sure.”

“Then why help him? Why go through the effort of following along with his little scheme? Why listen to his request that he believes will help him escape?” Gloria says, lips turning from a smile into a bitter snarl. She’s leaning closer to him, balls of her feet touching the ground as if she were preparing to pounce.

“Your majesty, _please._ I was _just_ humoring him. A failed attempt will definitely discourage him from leaving **and** he’s already more willing to trust me. Isn’t that a good thing?” Bede explains. It’s mostly lies. He really did mean to help Hop. 

Gloria growls in frustration. “But what if he succeeded!? What if, because you didn’t tell me or interfere that he _did_ escape!? What then!?” 

Bede steps back a bit, worried. Since they’d grown closer over the months, her anger had never been directed at _him._ “I didn’t mean any harm by it.”

“Plus, does it really matter if he’s here with us?” Bede says, and he sees Gloria’s eyes glow gold brighter with rage.

“That isn’t what matters! I don’t care about him!” she shouts, tears springing to her eyes and she finally leaps to her feet. “It’s like when Pancham left, Victor was all alone! That’s unfair to him!” She shakes her head side to side aggressively and Bede notices the way her red fur begins to grow down from her hairline to cover her nose and cheeks. “You betrayed me! You broke our trust!” Gloria stamps her feet like a child throwing a tantrum, but as she does so the bone structure of her legs begins to shift to that of a canine gradually.

Bede lowers his ears and tucks his tail between his legs in terror. He’s never seen her react like this under any circumstances. Anger and frustration seemed to be things she felt often, but never to this degree. Never directed towards anyone. Bede steps to the side, this time in the direction of the door.

Gloria grows in size, dropping to all fours as her clothes tear at the seams. Voice deeper and gruffer than before. “I thought you loved me! When you love someone, aren’t you supposed to trust each other!? How can I trust you after this!? Or— **Or maybe you never even loved me in the first place!** ” With that pain-filled shout, her transformation into the true form of Zamazenta that only legendary hybrids have the ability to do, Gloria launches herself towards Bede. His back slams against the wall as her paws throw him back.

He shouts, “Zamazenta, stop! You’re misunderstanding!” but it’s too late for any convincing. 

Bede puts out his arm to block his face from her snarling teeth. It’s that impulsive choice that makes him scream with pain as she bites down on it with all her might. 

She pulls back, yanking him by his arm and making him fall to the ground. “Stop! Stop, it hurts! It hurts!”

Gloria swings her neck side to side, dragging Bede on the ground as if he were a stuffed animal. Her teeth sink deeper and deeper into his forearm. She clenches her jaw as hard as she can. She isn’t going to let him go unless he can fight her back. But he can’t. All he can do it scream as he feels the bones in his arm shattering and splintering. It’s the most horrible pain he’s ever felt in his entire life. 

Bede’s tears and ear-splitting screaming pause in pure shock as suddenly a bright blue wolf launches over him and knocks Gloria back, making her open her mouth in shock. He forces himself to sit up, using his left hand to prop himself onto his knees. His arm is gushing blood and through his blurry vision he recognizes that undoubtedly muscle and bone are exposed to the open air. 

The room is filled with growls and yelps of anger and pain as Victor and Gloria violently attack each other in front of him. He deduces there truly is no one other than Victor that could possibly be the blue and peach colored wolf that had come to protect him at the sound of his screams. He watches blood and fur fly. 

Gloria’s favorite teacup falls to the ground, smashing into pieces. 

Bede is finally pulled out of his daze as two hands reach under his arms and drag him out of the room. 

Dizzy and misty-eyed from blood loss, Bede can hardly make out the words being shouted next to him. But he knows it’s Hop and Marnie.

_‘What is that idiot still doing here? Did he mess up?_

_Is it_

_Is it my fault?’_

—

Hop’s heart is racing faster than it ever has before in his life as he frantically drags Bede through the hall. “Where do I take him!? Marnie, where do I take him!?”

“Outside the sword fighting room, the storage closet is where we keep everything to tend to injuries!” Marnie answers frantically. 

“Dammit!” Hop shouts in frustration. Downstairs. They’ll need to take him downstairs. “Help me get him on my back!” Marnie nods and hurriedly helps lift Bede off the ground. Two teenagers who have had most things done for them their whole lives aren’t very strong, but with the adrenaline racing through them they manage. Hop drops to his knees so Marnie can swing one of Bede’s legs over Hop’s back. Hop grabs on to Bede’s legs and holds him on as hard as he can. 

He can’t waste the time going down the stairs at a time like this. Marnie gasps in horror as Hop takes a running start and jumps over the handrail of the staircase, falling the full length to the ground. She runs down the stairs as fast as she physically can.

Hop is okay. He only managed to land on one foot, which is sure to now be sprained, before stumbling forward onto his knees that are sure to be bruised all to hell tomorrow. Before Marnie can say a word, Hop is sprinting in the direction of the sword fighting practice studio. Marnie rushes to open the door for him, tears rolling down her face. There’s a trail of blood following them in splatters and footprints. 

Hop looks around and the only place he can put Bede down is on the wooden bench he had sat on his very first day while watching Leon be hurt by the same Queen who had just hurt Bede. Hop fears if Victor hadn’t run inside that Bede would surely be dead. He lays Bede down on the seat long ways and it’s barely wide enough to accommodate him. Hop folds Bede’s arms over his chest so his right arm stops gushing blood all over the floor. 

Marnie rushes over to the two, arms full of bandages and other supplies Hop doesn’t recognize. He’s never witnessed anything this severe before. Of course Marnie isn’t a doctor. There’s only so much they can do. 

Next to Bede, Marnie drops to her knees, little bottles and gauze spilling out of her arms and onto the floor. Hop hurries to pick them up as Marnie loudly sobs into her hands. “I don’t know what to do, Hop! I can’t make a cast, I don’t know how to fix bones and stitch skin and stop the bleeding! Oh, Arceus, Hop, he’s going to die! He’s going to die!”

Hop winces, but he tries to fight back tears. He needs to be strong for them. “No, he won't die! Give me something to disinfect it! Even some water will do for now!” Marnie nods and scrambles to her feet and runs away to get water. They can add some medication to it so it’ll spill into the wounds when they rinse them. 

Bede turns to look at Hop. “You’re an idiot. Don’t go wasting this stuff on me. It’s like Marnie said. I’m just gonna bleed out and die.”

Hop bares his teeth in frustration. “No, you’re not! I’m not gonna let you!”

Bede laughs. “Why didn’t you run away? I managed to give you the perfect chance, didn’t I?” he says, voice raspy from screaming.

“You got hurt. **You’re** the idiot if you think I would abandon you now,” Hop says. Bede looks away, smile fading as he winces in pain. He can hardly move at this point. It hurts too much. His face feels numb.

Marnie runs back into the room, spilling water onto the floor as she does. She rushes to Bede’s side, quickly preparing the water. She looks up at him and with pity says, “This will hurt.”

Hop holds Bede’s arm straight out to his side which already is incredibly painful but the water slowly being poured over his open wounds makes him hiss and cry out. “Sorry. Sorry,” Marnie repeats. 

“What now?” Marnie asks Hop. _‘How am I supposed to know!?’_ he thinks to himself.

“Uh, uh, we should try and stop the bleeding, shouldn’t we? And then stitch him up?” Hop answers cluelessly. Marnie, even more confused than he is, nods, and before she can do anything Hop takes off his vest to wrap around Bede’s arm. 

“Augh, dammit!” Bede hisses, pain rushing through him again. 

“Grit your teeth and bear it,” Hop snaps and Bede glares at him.

“I’m trying, you brainless—Grrhk,” Bede says before doing just that when Hop moves to fold Bede’s arm over his chest.

“I-I don’t know what we should do about his broken bones…” Hop admits, looking at Marnie with concern. 

Marnie runs her hand through her bangs out of stress, accidentally smearing blood on her forehead. “Maybe wrap something straight around his arm? Like a piece of wood?”

“That isn’t going to work,” Bede answers before Hop can.

“How do you know that!?” Hop says angrily. 

Bede sighs. “You have no idea how broken bones work, do you? Did you even _look_ at my arm?”

They had. Marnie and Hop look back at each other in distress. 

“What do we do?” Marnie whimpers, voice barely above a whisper. 

“Just cut it off,” Bede says nonchalantly. Hop and Marnie gasp in horror.

“You can’t be serious!” Marnie yelps.

“No, he’s right. That really might be the best choice.”

The three turn their heads to the door to see Victor enter. He’s a _wreck_ , clothes shredded and blood covering his face and neck. The fur on the sides of his face, chest, and forearms is still slowly disappearing. He’s finally achieved the horrific appearance Hop had originally expected him to have, but…

He looked like this because he fought his own sister to save Bede. Hop’s heart thumps when he approaches, lifting his shirt to wipe some of the blood away from his mouth and exposing his stomach. Hop catches himself staring and turns away, immediately convincing himself it’s because of envy.

Marnie’s voice quivers as she says, “Why?”

Dropping to his knees next to her he says, “The bone might remain broken that way. The external injury will heal up but the arm will remain painful and near useless with how much of it is broken. If we were able to get him to a professional it’s possible they might be able to, but that...that isn’t…” He gnaws his lower lip and Hop notes the fact that his canine teeth are still disturbingly large. “I could try and run you towards the nearest town!? But…”

“You don’t know where one is, do you?” Bede finishes for him. Victor looks down at his lap in shame. 

“How would people react to seeing Zacian or Zamazenta out in the open?” Marnie poses. 

Victor gets misty-eyed at the thought. “I don’t know. People fear us, they think we bring misfortune and steal children away. They’d—” he clenches his fists, digging his claws into his padded palms “—try and kill us, I think.”

Bede sighs loudly. “Then stop thinking of it as an option, you idiots! Our choices are to let my arm heal badly and stay broken forever or to just cut off the dead weight and get over it! And it’s my arm, and I’ve made my decision on it!”

Marnie shudders, picturing the amputation. Hop feels sick imagining just how painful that will be. 

“Okay,” Victor agrees. “Let me get a sharp enough knife.”

Bede laughs and it makes Hop grimace. “Finally! Thank you!” He’s obviously quite delirious from the blood loss. Victor gets up and leaves the room, ears tucked back. 

Marnie picks up the medical supplies she’d dropped at first and puts them on the bench behind Bede so that Victor can get to them. She and Hop stand up in sync. Marnie reaches out, hand hovering over Bede’s hair. Wanting to tuck his bangs to the side and tell him she’d do whatever he needed until he healed. 

She doesn’t.

Victor comes back in, a tablecloth and knives in hand. Marnie hurries to leave the room clutching her mouth with her hand to force down the bile threatening to come out. Hop walks past Victor. Their eyes meet. Hop sees an incredible sadness on his face. It’s the first time he’s seen him about to cry. 

When Hop exits the room, closing the door behind him. He takes a moment to calm himself. His heart has been racing so quickly he fears he’ll drop dead.

He realizes in the hallway that he’s alone. “Marnie?” he says. He hears fast footsteps upstairs.

_‘Oh. I should have known. After all, she loves her, doesn’t she?’_

Hop clutches his chest. Love. He misses the feeling, yearns for it deeply. His friends and his family and pokémon. Hop thinks to himself that maybe the friendships he has with Bede and Marnie could eventually count as a form of love if they become close enough. And he wasn’t even going to allow that to be a possibility. Were he and Victor friends? The time they had spent together...even if maybe it shouldn’t have, for his own safety and so that he could leave without any regret in doing so, _even so—_

It had made him so _so_ happy.

Sliding his back down the wall, he drops to the floor. He can’t handle it anymore. Hop bursts into tears, trying and failing to mask his sobs with his hands covered in dried blood. All he can hear is more screaming behind him. 

—

Marnie doesn’t knock. She knows Gloria won’t reply anyway. She might even be unconscious after the fight. Marnie doesn’t know. She doesn’t care. She **needs** to see her. 

Gloria lays on the ground, half-dressed and still covered in fur most of the way. Her dark red fur is clumped together and tufts of it along with Victor’s are strung all about the room. Gloria looks up at her. She drops her head back to the floor with a sigh. “Go away.”

Marnie shakily walks over, circling around her so they would be facing one another. She bends over, wrapping her arms around Gloria’s neck and hugging her. Gloria’s mouth is so close to her neck. She could easily tear open Marnie, killing her in an instant. Instead, she whimpers. 

“Morpeko, do you hate me?” Gloria asks.

Marnie shakes her head no quickly. “Of course not. I could never hate you.”

“Why? I hurt Sylveon. I hurt Zacian. I might hurt you. Why aren’t you scared?” Gloria asks, gruff voice slowly returning to its normal pitch as her paws begin to look more and more like hands. 

“I know you wouldn’t hurt me unless you had a reason to. You hurt Bede because you had a reason, didn’t you?” Marnie says. She’s the most clueless to the situation out of all of them. 

Gloria sits up more and wraps her arms around Marnie’s waist. “He betrayed us, Morpeko. He was trying to help the Wooloo to escape. He tried to _use me.”_ Voice cracking, she says, “Why would he do that? I thought he liked me. I thought…” She sobs into Marnie’s arms and Marnie pets her hair softly as it turns smooth and brunette again. 

“He made a mistake. But you made a mistake too,” Marnie reminds her softly.

“I know. I shouldn’t have hurt him. I didn’t want to hurt him, I just—! He made me so angry!” Gloria pulls away to look Marnie in the face. “Wouldn’t you be angry if the person you loved treated someone else as more important to you?”

Marnie feels her heart shatter. _‘Gloria loves Bede. Gloria loves Bede. Gloria loves Bede. Gloria..._ **_doesn’t love me._ ** _’_

“Yeah,” Marnie lies. It’s a complete and utter lie. Gloria moves to lay on Marnie’s lap.

“Marnie, comfort me...help me feel better,” she asks and all Marnie can think is _‘Am I_ — _I’m just here for her to use, then…?’_

It’s _agony._ Marnie pets Gloria’s back, being sure to be gentle enough that it won’t make her bite wounds hurt even more than they already must. She sings softly to her. A song Piers would sing to her when she cried. 

_‘Why does it have to be like this?_

_I can’t stop myself. I can’t stop myself from loving her so, so much.’_

Marnie is certain Gloria doesn’t notice her tears falling onto her back. And even if she did, Marnie assumes that she wouldn’t do anything about it.

Marnie doesn’t notice Gloria’s own tears silently rolling down her cheeks either. 

_‘I hate this castle._

_I hate being Zamazenta._

_I wish I had friends._

_I wish I didn’t have to fight that horrible beast._

_The thing that ended so many lives._

_That my parents' corpses were obliterated to the point of no recognition._

_I want Bede and Marnie to stay with me forever._

_I’m sure they want to leave just as much as I do._

_They’re the only ones who haven’t tried.’_

—

Victor peers outside the door to the sword fighting practice room. Hop looks up at him with wide eyes. Victor’s eyebrows shoot up in shock at just how _awful_ Hop looks. The guilt is **destroying** him. It’s all his fault. It isn’t an exaggeration in the slightest for him to think it was all his fault. **He** was the one who asked Bede to distract Gloria. Bede wouldn’t have gotten hurt like this if he hadn’t agreed to help Hop. Marnie wouldn’t have to panic and cry and now sit with the Queen that had just attacked her friend. Victor wouldn’t have had to risk his own safety to save Bede from Gloria if Hop hadn’t been so **_fucking selfish!_ **

He frantically wipes away his tears before getting to his feet. “What is it?” he asks Victor, throat rough from sobbing. 

“Help me get Sylveon to his room. I could carry him myself, but...I’m sorry, it hurts a lot,” he admits shamefully. Hop realizes that during all of this Victor hasn’t taken care of his own injuries at all. 

“Of course,” Hop agrees, returning to Bede with Victor close behind. Victor is surprised when Hop bends down and says “Put him on my back.”  
“Are you sure?” Victor asks.

“Yeah. How do you think he got downstairs?” Hop answers. Victor shrugs and complies. 

Bede is unconscious. He passed out from the pain of having his arm cut off. But Hop is surprised to see how... _okay_ it looks. His right arm is missing from the elbow down, but Victor has carefully bandaged it by tearing up the tablecloth he’d carried in earlier. When cutting his arm off Victor was sure to keep skin from below the elbow attached so he could sew it together at the bottom and not leave any of the wound open. He wasn’t a doctor, but he sure had done a better job than the terrified other two could have. 

Hop looks away as quickly as possible when he sees the rest of the arm laying on the floor.

He and Victor walk in uncomfortable silence. It makes Hop feel even worse. _‘Did Zamazenta tell him? Did Bede tell him? They must have. He must_ ** _hate me._ ** _’_ Somehow, that’s the thing that stings the most. 

Hop fumbles to try and change Bede out of his horrible and blood-soaked clothes but gives up after his shirt. It’s far too frustrating with Bede asleep. He at least takes the time to wipe as much blood off of him as he can before putting him in his bed. He decides that in the morning he’ll make sure he has something to eat. In the meantime, Victor is gathering up everything they’d used to treat him. That and their destroyed clothes. Deciding what was salvageable and what had to go right now the trash chute. He takes a shower just to wash all the cracking dry blood off of himself. It’s excruciating. 

Hop and Victor almost run face-first into each other when Victor heads down the stairs and Hop heads up them. 

“Ah. Sorry,” Victor says. 

“No, no, I’m sorry,” Hop replies as quickly as he can.

There’s an awkward pause before Hop says, “Let me bandage up your wounds.” It isn’t phrased as a question. 

Zacian opens his mouth to protest, face contorting to one of discomfort before he takes a deep breath and answers, “Okay.” 

Hop smiles weakly. 

_He_ takes Victor’s hand, which makes the brunette feel an indescribable bliss. It’s short-lived under the circumstances, but the fact that this time Hop is the one initiating contact with him means a lot. 

Hop has Victor wait in the kitchen while he runs to get the antiseptic and gauze Victor had already put away. He’s grateful he doesn’t need to look back in the sword fighting practice room. It’s a bloody mess. He’ll have to deal with all the cleaning tomorrow, but for the time being he just wants to be alone with Victor. He needs to know how he feels.

Seated, Victor takes off his shirt with his back to Hop. Hop stands behind him and feels guilt weigh on his shoulders more and more. All the bites and claw marks surrounded by bruises that are already darkening. There’s fresh blood drying around them again even after Victor bathed. 

“Tell me if it hurts,” Hop says, his gentle words breaking the eerie quietness of the castle. 

Victor hunches over a bit. “No. It’s going to hurt no matter what, so...please just do it.” It makes Hop want to cry. With each touch Victor winces and twitches painfully but he doesn’t make a sound. He doesn’t want Hop to feel guilty, even if it _is_ the result of a choice he made.

“Has this sort of thing ever happened before?” Hop asks. He doesn’t feel worthy of the information, but Victor’s rational decisions make him think it’s a possibility.

“No. Well, kind of. It’s complicated,” Victor answers, uncertain of what he should reveal. 

Hop’s touch is as light as a feather as he smooths the gauze on Victor’s back. When his fingers brush the back of Victor’s neck he shivers. “You aren’t the first to try to escape. That’s what I mean,” he says, rushing the words out before he can change his mind.

“Have Bede or Marnie?” Hop asks. 

Victor sits up straighter and his spine cracks, but Hop sees his ears perk up in alertness. Nervousness. “No. Neither of them. I’m certain that they’ve thought about it or wanted to and I don’t blame them for that, but they’ve never done anything. Maybe it’s because my sister has been so loving towards them.” Hop can’t believe his words. _‘Loving towards them? In what way has Zamazenta ever been loving towards Bede and Marnie? Is that just in private or something?’_

Victor sighs heavily. “There was a Pancham and a Mimikyu that came together. Their names were Bea and Allister.”

Hop clenches his teeth. _‘The paintings.’_

“Pancham came because of the same reason the rest of you have. Mimikyu, however, was younger. And as a punishment her family forced Pancham to bring Mimikyu with her.” Victor clenches his fists tightly, obviously upset by the fact. “He was sick. His parents couldn’t care for him and pawned him off to some...some questionable people. When the criminal circumstances were brought to the attention of the royal family they didn’t—they pushed it aside! They didn’t do anything!” He hangs his head following his outburst. 

Hop dry swallows. “And Bea told you?”

Victor nods. “She disobeyed her family and took Mimikyu in. It was assumed he was a lost cause, but even so, she never gave up on him. And because of that disobedience, when she was given over to us she was forced to bring him with her.”

Hop wraps Victor’s neck. He can’t handle looking at the teeth marks on the sides any longer while listening to his story. “You know we don’t have the proper supplies and experience to help someone with a pre-existing illness. None of us even knew what was wrong with him...just that he was dying.”

Hop’s fingers slowly drift up. Running his hand through Victor’s short thick hair. The King doesn’t resist. “Pancham and Mimikyu were very kind. She was a very rough girl on the outside, but she cared about Mimikyu so much, and—and eventually she started to treat me warmly as well.” He puts a hand over his heart. The memory hurts as much as his cuts. 

_‘Oh. So, while Zamazenta was close with Bede and Marnie, Victor was with Bea and Allister. If those two escaped, all this time he must have felt so alone. And I tried to abandon him after all the kindness he’s shown me. Arceus, I’m_ ** _awful._ ** _’_

“After three months Mimikyu died. Pancham and I were at his side. And Pa... _Bea_...she couldn’t take it. She ran away. As a fighting type and a clever princess, she got out without too much difficulty,” Victor reveals. He hangs his head, putting his face in his hands. “And I helped her.”

“You _helped her?_ ” Hop repeats in shock. 

“It hurt Bea so much to stay here. She told me how much she hated her kingdom for treating the sick, old, and weak as if they were less deserving of life. And she said that even with how much she hated it, that she needed to go home and become Queen. So she could change all of that. Bea was amazing,” Victor continues. 

_‘Did Victor...love her?’_ Hop thinks to himself. He doesn’t know how it makes him feel. How he’s using her real name and that he helped her in escaping.

“She was able to escape because I fought Gloria,” he says with a little laugh. “She really destroyed me that day. Much worse than today. But at least it was just me who got hurt.”

 _‘Don’t say that like it’s a good thing...stop acting like you don’t deserve to be okay,’_ Hop wants to say. 

“Gloria was mad at me for a really long time. But eventually she told me that she was mad that I was so cruel to myself,” Victor says. Hop gasps in shock and it makes Victor chuckle. He turns around to face Hop.

“When Bea and Allister were gone, I spent all my time alone. I got worse and worse at talking to people and—and it’s _still_ hard; I don’t know what faces I should make when I talk and how much is too much because no one has ever told me. I like that you’ve started to.” Victor takes Hop’s hands and looks at him with such kind eyes that Hop feels like he’s skydiving. 

“And she told me before I came downstairs to help you and M...Marnie with Bede she told me why she was so furious. Why she was mad at Bede and why she was mad at you. She felt that Bede had broken his trust with her. She loves him very much,” Victor explains with a serious nod. “But...she told me she was mad at you specifically because she didn’t want me to be alone again. She’s scary and impulsive, but Gloria really only behaves how she does because she thinks she’s doing the right thing. She doesn’t know better. Just like I didn’t.”

Hop has difficulty accepting his words. He can’t stop fearing Gloria and being furious at her for hurting Bede and Victor. Yet, he wants to trust Victor. He doesn’t say anything to refute him. 

“Are you mad at me?” Hop whispers. Once again speaking aloud without meaning to.

“No,” Victor answers without any hesitation. 

“Why? You have every reason in the world to be mad at me!” Hop cries out. Victor holds his hands tighter.

“Because we’re friends. I don’t want you to be unhappy.”

Hop becomes choked up. He can’t breathe and he closes his eyes tightly to keep himself from crying. “I’m not going to try and leave again!”

Victor twitches his ears.

“I’m not unhappy here! I like Marnie and Bede and—! I really like you!” Victor yelps as Hop lurches forward into his arms. He hugs him softly before Victor hugs him back harder. “You said we could leave _one day._ So, I’m going to hold you to that. I’ll wait for you.”

“Thank you,” Victor says. Hop doesn’t pull away when he feels Victor’s shoulders shake as he cries as quietly as he can. Hop runs his fingers through his hair. They stay like that for a while until Victor excuses himself so he can make sure Marnie has helped Gloria.

When he walks away, Hop smiles at his back as he turns down the hall. _‘He was saying their names…’_

—

It’s night. Hop is exhausted. He just wants to sleep and get the day over with. 

And he can’t do it. Because again and again he hears footsteps pacing outside his door.

Hop clenches his sheets tighter, fear gripping him just as tightly. _‘Is it Zamazenta? Did she decide to attack me too? Because I wanted to leave? Of course I was going to try and escape. Did she expect me to give up my freedom without doing anything?’_

The door creaks open. Hop stops breathing. _‘This is it, huh? This is how I die. I’m going to die. But...I won’t go down without a fight!’_ He closes his eyes tightly and clenches his jaw. The second she lays her hands on him, he’s going to show her that just because he’s a Wooloo doesn’t change that he can still give her some serious trouble!

The touch he’s anticipating never comes. It’s terrifyingly silent. The soft footsteps into his room with the door carefully closed behind them. The intruder does nothing but walk up to the edge of Hop’s bed, get on his knees, and lean up against the side. Hop’s heart hammers in his chest. _‘Is she trying to make sure I’m asleep? She’s going to notice...she’s definitely going to notice…!’_

“I can tell you’re awake. My apologies if that’s my fault.” 

Hop’s eyes shoot open and his jaw goes slack. That gentle and unwavering voice…

Hop rolls over, squinting as his eyes fail to adjust to complete darkness. “Victor? What is it?” 

“I got anxious,” is the truthful answer he’s given. _‘He’s admitting something like that to me?’_

Hop thinks silently for a moment. “Did you want to talk about it?”

Victor sighs. It tugs Hop’s heartstrings and he doesn’t want that, but it happens all on its own. “I just wanted to be sure you were still here.”

 _‘Don’t say something like that...That’s so unfair.’_ _  
_ “Why? Zamazenta would definitely have noticed if I tried anything. Especially now,” Hop solemnly replies. Victor hums and nods, resting his chin on the edge of the mattress. _‘He’s way too close. He always gets so close.’_

“You have no choice but to remain here. I don’t want for you to leave,” Victor says. He sounds apologetic, but the words are dripping in loneliness. 

“Is that it? That I can’t leave just because you want me here?” Hop asks. 

Victor presses his face down. “It isn’t that easy to explain.”

“Explain it anyways,” Hop demands. 

Victor smiles, ever so slightly. It makes Hop’s stomach flip as if he were falling. “No one has ever spoken to me like you do. You’re so bold.”

Hop’s face flushes and he makes a noise of discomfort. “You’re avoiding my question, are you?”

“I’ll explain tomorrow. I’ll explain everything,” Victor promises. He speaks very very quietly. Gloria’s hearing is dangerously strong, after all. “But I’m a little surprised you don’t know the story already. You’re very sheltered, aren’t you?”

Hop pouts. Was he really the one most in the dark? Did Leon know the reason for his departure and just never told him? _‘That’s cruel…’_

“Do you feel better now?” Hop asks Victor calmly. He doesn’t feel the need to refute his comment. It might be truer than he expected, after all.

“A little bit,” the wolf answers.

“Good. Then go back to bed,” Hop insists. 

Victor shakes his head no to Hop’s dismay. “Let me stay by your side tonight.”

“You’re going to sleep…?” Hop starts without finishing his sentence. _‘On the floor?_ **_In bed with me!?_ ** _’_

Victor stands up. “My bed is large enough for the two of us.”

Hop sits up quickly, startled. With his strong vision, Victor can see the obvious blush that instantly covers Hop’s face. “What!? You want me to—!? No!”

“Why not? You’ll definitely be more comfortable,” Victor assures him.

Hop whines in disagreement. “I won’t be comfortable sharing a bed with you!”

“Why?” Victor asks again. Hop bristles at the question. 

“Why?” Hop repeats incredulously. “Of course it’s because—!”

_‘Why exactly is it? We’re both boys from nearly equal social status.’_

Victor smiles again. “Please?” he asks.

Hop hates this. The way that barely visible smile makes his chest squeeze. No one else’s smile makes him feel like this, and it worries him. He’s afraid he might...he might have begun to…

Hop whines in complaint, but gets out of bed. He’s certain he looks foolish with his hair unkempt. As usual, Victor catches Hop off guard. He sweeps him off his feet — literally. All of a sudden, Hop finds himself held bridal style in Victor’s arms.

“W-W-W-What are you doing!? I can walk there just fine!” Hop stammers. 

“It’s faster this way, since I’m taller,” Victor answers bluntly. The reminder irritates Hop, but it’s nothing untrue. In the quiet dimly lit castle, Victor wordlessly carries Hop to his quarters. Hop’s heart can’t stop pounding, being held like this, his cheek pressed against Victor’s chest. 

Victor doesn’t put Hop down when he gets to his bed. Instead, he sits down on the edge before scooting to the middle of the mattress and laying down on his side. Hop remains in his arms like this.

_‘Does he expect me to sleep like this!? This is cuddling! This is definitely, without a doubt, what cuddling someone is!’_

Hop is about to squirm out of Victor’s clutches when the wolf sweetly says “Thank you for indulging me like this.”

_‘Dammit. Dammit all to Hell.’_

“It’s fine...you said please, after all.”

Victor laughs so quietly he barely makes a sound. 

They lay there in silence. Hop’s having an internal battle with himself. He wants to just fall asleep and get this over with, but at the same time how can his brain possibly calm down like this!? This is crazy! _‘How is it that so quickly Victor and I have started to act as if we’ve known each other forever?’_

“Goodnight, Hop.”

Hop gasps. _Hop. ‘He called me Hop. He actually called me Hop. After all this time of calling me Wooloo, he’s using my name…’_

Hop swallows in nervous anticipation. 

“Goodnight, Victor.”


	6. Finally, The Truth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Victor tells Hop the information he's been lacking from the very start. What was the reason for all of this happening?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im so so sorry this chapter took so long while still being shorter than all the others im currently doing not good but i swear i will finish this fanfic if it kills me i love this AU and these characters and all of your kind comments and kudos motivate me so so so much

In the morning, Victor follows through with his request. Right away, before anything else. Before they get dressed or eat breakfast, Hop and Victor sit across from each other in the King’s bedroom. Hop feels far too warm over the fact he woke up still in Victor’s embrace and that he really had no desire to move. He forces the thought from his head. This is serious time. 

Hop watches Victor, fascinated with the way his expression changes ever so slightly multiple times as he decides how to start his story and bites his lip.

“Here...we used to be just like any other kingdom at some point, I think. I never saw it like that, but I’m sure it must have been,” Victor says, sounding so sure of himself only so as to convince himself he was saying the right thing.

He takes a shaky deep breath. Hop puts his hand on his shoulder encouragingly. “When Gloria and I were born, we weren’t technically Zacian and Zamazenta. Genetically, yes, but...we didn’t serve the roles that those titles carry. Being Zacian isn’t just...it isn’t like how you’re a Wooloo hybrid, being Zacian isn’t that I’m a Zacian hybrid, it’s...I **am** Zacian, I wasn’t when I was first born, though.” Hop leans in closer with his eyebrows furrowed. He really doesn’t understand, but he knows Victor is trying his darndest to explain. 

“I-It’s like—There’s only one Celebi, right? But do you think there has always been just _one?_ ” Victor asks, only confusing Hop further.

“I always assumed so?” Hop answers with uncertainty.

“Well, that isn’t—no, I...I don’t know how it is for Celebi, actually, but—!” Victor stumbles over his words. He reaches up and tugs at one of his ears in frustration. “Being a Legendary Pokémon hybrid, t-that’s...it isn’t the _same._ There are certain abilities I gained once my parents died.”

Hop sinks back. _‘How terrible…’_

“Being Zacian isn’t just a genetic thing, it’s that...there’s _things_ that come with it. Gloria and I exist, just as our parents did, with a job. A specific reason to live and a goal to accomplish before we die,” Victor says, finally settling on a phrasing he doesn’t entirely hate.

“Then what is that job? That’s why you need to live all alone like this?” Hop asks.

Victor nods heavily. “The only reason we live so far away from other societies is because of our role, correct. Our only companions are given to us as…” He squints. “As thanks, I suppose.”

“As _thanks?_ ’ Hop repeats incredulously. 

“Maybe that isn’t the right way to put it, but...but, Hop, we wouldn’t...the reason our only company is given over as forfeit is because of the fact that the duty Gloria and I share is an incredibly dangerous one. And we take it on for the sake of protecting everyone else.” Victor continues. Hop stares at him attentively.

“This castle is built on top of the den of an incredibly powerful dragon-type Pokémon, Eternatus,” Victor says all at once.

Before he can continue Hop’s eyes grow wide and he shouts “What!? Excuse me!?”

Victor waves his hands to silence him. “Yes, yes, I know, it sounds idiotic, especially taking into account it was _intentional!_ ” Hop squirms in place. 

“Eternatus is very **very** strong. It lays dormant under the castle right now, but it wasn’t always dormant. That’s how...it’s…” Victor has trouble continuing before looking up and meeting Hop’s gaze to steady himself.

“When the castle was still populated, Eternatus woke up. It destroyed most of the castle and was just barely knocked out by Gloria and I. And it was just that we dealt the last remaining blows. Our parents were the ones who fought it. And they died that day…”

Victor stops talking and Hop grows worried as Victor’s eyes seem to glaze over as he recalls the event vividly. “It was so bright it was blinding. And when it finally fell unconscious, everyone was gone. Almost everyone in the castle. Gloria and I lived and a few other people who had managed to flee just in time when it burst through the ground. People from other kingdoms came to help take away the...the corpses, even though—” Victor hunches over, clutching his stomach, “most of them were burnt away completely to ash. My parents, there wasn’t...there was _nothing left—”_

Victor clasps a hand over his mouth. “Hey, hey, you don’t need to think about that! Don’t—Try not to think about it!” Hop quickly replies, grabbing Victor by the shoulders. When Victor starts to cry, Hop instead yanks him forward into a hug. Victor clings to him. He buries his face into Hop’s shoulder to try and muffle a sob.

“Sorry. I try not to. I try not to think about it,” Victor murmurs. Hop pats his back before they separate. Neither wants to stop hugging, but they have a reason they decided to talk. Hop decides quickly that he’ll hug Victor more after this conversation. 

Sniffling and steeling himself once again, Victor returns to the subject at hand. “The castle is for the most part a shadow of what it once was. Most of our locked rooms are just...unused and filled with painful nostalgia. And hide stains of blood and ash. What else, um...everyone moved away after that. They picked up everything and left. We were a kingdom, after all, you know? This wasn’t just a castle. We had subjects and shops and our own society and traditions and laws. Now all of that’s dispersed all over the place and the only ones to keep them are Gloria and I.”

“Like our sword fighting. That’s something very important to us. Especially considering that our powers can only be activated through it,” Victor notes. A lightbulb goes off in Hop’s head.

“So that’s why you’re called the Sword and Shield heroes?” he asks.

“Yes, that’s right,” Victor answers with a little smile. “My special move comes from using a sword while Gloria’s comes from using a shield.”

“Special move, hehe. You’ll show me it some time, right?” Hop requests with a grin. 

Victor’s smile widens back. “Okay, I will!” The moment of positivity is enough to spur Victor onwards.

“That’s how we beat Eternatus the first time. But now there’s going to be a second time, so that’s why we’ve spent all this time here waiting,” Victor explains.

All the happiness and color drains from Hop’s face. “You mean it’s going to wake up again? _Soon?_ ”

Victor’s shoulders sag as he nods. “Yes. But, don’t worry!” he says, holding his hands up. “We’ll make sure that you, Bede, and Marnie are taken away before it happens. You won’t get hurt.”

Hop feels no relief at his words. Despair washes over him to think that this castle Victor and Gloria have been in their entire lives, the garden Victor spent so much time caring for, and all of Gloria’s painting could be destroyed in the wreckage. Most of all he’s terrified at the thought that the King and Queen would have to face the dragon Pokémon that had _killed their parents_ and ruined their lives in so many ways _all alone._

“No. No!” Hop shouts, terribly distressed. “That isn’t okay!”

Victor’s taken aback and leans away. “I don’t understand…?”

Hop gets to his feet and puts his hands on Victor’s knees, leaning over him. “It’s not fair you have to do this all alone! Your parents couldn’t, so how can you!?”

Victor winces and Hop realizes his mistake immediately. “My parents were unprepared. They didn’t know it was coming that day, just that it would eventually. And they were trying to help so many people escape at the same time. Gloria and I don’t have those things to worry about. She and I can be ready and focus only on the battle. So, you three need to get somewhere safe before that happens.”

Hop doesn’t hesitate in the slightest to shout back, “I don’t want to be safe! I want to help!”

Victor’s jaw hangs slack as Hop grasps his hands and looks right into his eyes with burning determination. “You’ll teach me how to sword fight, won’t you? I’m a normal type Pokémon, but I won’t be a hindrance to you!”

Victor stares at him wide-eyed. “You can’t...you might get hurt!”

“You _will_ get hurt! You’re putting your life on the line for everyone else in the world and all they’ve ever done is send you a few of their teenagers to clean up the castle!?” Hop releases Victor’s hands and thrusts his fists to his sides in frustration. “That’s bullshit! That isn’t fair!”

Victor reaches out a hand to touch Hop’s arm. Sympathetically, he says, “It’s kind of you to say that, but that’s just how things have always been.”

“F-Fff—Fuck that! Just because it’s how things **have** been doesn’t mean it’s right! Every other kingdom has been so—so _selfish,_ including mine! We should be working together for this!” Hop ruffles his own hair angrily. “This isn’t fair, Victor! You shouldn’t be okay with this!”

Victor looks away in shame. “It isn’t that easy. Even after my parents beat Eternatus and the other kingdoms in the region agreed upon the idea of giving over one child to take care of Gloria and I, people _fear_ us. We beat a giant dragon and live all alone and caused a ton of people to die _and_ we take away children? I’m sure that...that there’s tons of people who **hate** us.”

Hop knows his own family falls into that category. He paces furiously. “That’s horrible! I can’t believe that! You saved their lives and they hate you for deaths you aren’t responsible for and a decision you yourselves didn’t even make!? Victor, that’s disgusting, I-I won’t stand for it!”

Stomping a foot he insists, “You’re gonna teach me how to sword fight and I’m going to fight by your side during this! How much time do we have!?”

Victor is entirely shaken and overwhelmed by Hop’s passionate outburst but answers anyway. “Less than four months. It’s called the Darkest Day by most people.” 

Hop had wanted to stay for less than one before. But that was before he knew the full story. That was before he knew Victor, Gloria, Marnie, and Bede. That was before he knew just how much pain the twins had suffered and just how little everyone outside the castle had done for them. 

Now, Hop has decided that no matter how dangerous it is, he isn’t going to leave Victor’s side. 

“Victor. We’re friends now. I’m not going to abandon you when you’re in danger. You’ve been protecting me all this time without me even knowing, so now that I do know, I’m going to protect you too.”

Victor’s heart races. Hop is more heroic than any knight he’s read about in any book. Hop is _real_ and _genuine_ and _wonderful._ He doesn’t want Hop to be in danger. He doesn’t want Hop to get hurt. But the firey passion Hop has convinces Victor. He would never go so far as to request someone’s help. But Hop is offering. For the first time, someone is offering to help. Victor wants help.

“Mhm. Mhmhm! Okay! I’ll teach you how to sword fight! I’ll teach you to sword fight so well that neither of us will be afraid when we finally have to fight Eternatus!” Victor confirms, furrowing his eyebrows. Victor stands up to shake Hop’s hand but stumbles back when instead Hop lunges forward into a hug.

_‘Hop is the kindest person I’ve ever met.’_

Victor squeezes back. Hop grins and somehow he isn’t scared. They were friends now. Comrades, brothers in arms, allies. Hop decides to himself without uttering a word aloud _‘This battle with Eternatus will be the_ **_last one._ ** _’_

Neither of them comment on the fact Victor presses a kiss to the top of Hop’s head. Hop doesn't know how to feel. Victor...has already come to recognize what his own feelings are. 

He wouldn't try so hard to touch Hop all the time if he didn't already know he had started to fall for him. 


	7. Shocking Generosity

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everyone's feelings rise up from the depths. Several break through the ice to see the light of the surface.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter is kind of a trainwreck because i crammed so much into it and actually planned on a bunch more things happening too but this is already so much to take it and chapter eight is gonna be an actual nightmare both to write and read so  
> PLEASE JUST  
> TAKE THIS AND ENJOY WHAT OF IT YOU CAN  
> IF YOU STARTED THIS FIC FOR THE SHIPS, ESPECIALLY GLORIA'S THIS IS YOUR CHAPTER MATE

Hop clenches his eyes shut, expecting pain, but when all he gets is a tap he opens one eye to see Victor raising an eyebrow at him sporting a smile. 

“You can’t always tense up like that when I swing at you. You’re great at attacking moves but when it comes to defense you always freeze and flinch,” Victor says. Hop knows he could easily be more brutal with both his critiques and fighting style, but Hop also knows that Victor always tends to treat him very gently to the point it’s embarrassing.

Hop pouts. “I _know_ that. What am I supposed to do? Just decide not to?”

“...Yes?” Victor answers in confusion. Hop slouches over. Victor puts a hand on his shoulder. “Don’t get discouraged. You’re still a beginner. It’s like learning how to read. It’s a struggle starting out but for most, after enough practice it becomes second nature.”

Hop glances up at him and nearly laughs at him. “Yes, master.” Victor bristles in embarrassment and takes a step back and Hop can’t help but genuinely cackle. 

“Don’t call me _that!_ ” Victor whines in complaint, cheeks pink.

“Why? Have you never had anyone call you master before? You’re a prin— _king_ , aren’t you?” Hop questions, popping one of his hips to the side and putting his free hand on it. He feels stuffy in the padding Victor’s making him wear and especially irritated at the fact Victor _doesn’t_ wear any, as if assuming there’s no way Hop will hit him.

Victor avoids Hop’s eyes and rubs his arm in embarrassment. “But it’s different...you’re my friend, not my maid.”

“I’m _kiiind_ of your maid,” Hop retorts, raising an eyebrow. Victor crumbles.

“I guess...but I didn’t ask for things to be like this,” he whimpers.

Hop rolls his eyes. “True, but if Marnie, Bede, and I weren’t around I’m pretty sure you’d struggle for ages trying to do stuff on your own,” he teases.

Victor grimaces. “Enough bullying me! I get it, I need you and I like having you around. You’re the one who asked to learn sword fighting, so stop being distracting!” he whines. Hop snickers when Victor turns up his nose the way he’d expect Bede to do, but not someone he’d once considered so serious.

“You’re funny when you’re embarrassed. But yeah, you’re right. After this, I’m making you make lunch with me. I know you well enough now to know you ate a shoddy breakfast, right?” Hop asks.

Victor’s shoulders drop. “You’re killing me, Hop.”

The sound of his name being said by Victor continues to make his heart skip a beat. It’s been a week and a half since Victor and him had entered a first name basis but the action itself still makes him inexplicably happy. Little does he know, Hop calling Victor his name probably excites Victor twice as much. It had been so long since someone had said his name so casually and called him his friend. It gives him Butterfree no matter Hop’s tone of voice. It’s beginning to become a problem. 

Ever since Hop had told him that the way Victor is always so close and touchy with him is something he should save for a _girlfriend_ he's gradually become more and more aware of the contact. And not in an _‘if that’s the case I should try and stop’_ way. An _‘I don’t want to stop, though. I want to be even closer.’_ It’s started to scare him just how much he wants to grab Hop’s hand every time they’re side by side or wrap his arms around his waist when his back is turned to him or back him up against the wall and tilt-up his chin and—

Victor isn’t stupid. He knows these aren’t things you feel for a friend. He’s _never_ felt this way about anyone before. Not even Bea, who was someone he considered himself close companions with. The realization of _‘So I’m gay, huh?’_ crashes down on him like a falling tree, and the addition of _‘I’m falling for Hop’_ is the branch that impales him.

Now they’re spending every day together. Even with the dreadful looming threat and Hop’s awareness of Victor’s past and situation, Hop treats him the way he’s wanted to be treated for _so so so long._ Hop doesn’t pity him. He doesn’t fear him. He doesn’t treat him like a king or a hero or a legendary Pokémon. He treats him like a person. He laughs at him and teases him. He corrects him when he’s wrong and grins that perfect wide grin when he’s right. When he’s busy he waves at Victor from across the hall and sticks out his tongue or strikes a pose and Victor wishes he could capture such moments in his heart forever and never lose them until he inevitably dies. 

Victor has gotten decent at hiding it, he thinks. He’s been hiding his feelings for over half his life, so it isn’t any trouble to repress just one thing. Especially since now, thanks to Hop, he’s letting out so many of the others. For once he’s grateful for it and his social ineptitude. Because when he’s touchy with Hop or stares at him or compliments him whenever he gets the chance he can just chalk it up to that and the Wooloo accepts that answer even though he always corrects him after.

He’s already managed to learn so much about Hop. Victor, from birth to the present, has always been the quieter one. It may be due to Gloria’s brashness that he always tended to trail behind her and only speak when truly necessary because she always spoke up for him. Hop doesn’t seem too bothered by it. He’s endlessly talkative to the point he’s ashamed when he realizes just how much he’s rambled on. Victor **loves it.**

How much Hop loves his pet Wooloo that matches his own species. How much he dislikes how protective his family is of him even though he loves them a lot. His favorite books and foods and music and Victor eats up every tidbit of information Hop spills.

How Hop always compares himself to his older brother. It’s something Victor can relate to in regard to Gloria all too well. It gives Victor a bitter taste in his mouth when Hop looks down and the smile he wears becomes less genuine when he comments on how much better Prince Leon is than him. 

_“No matter how much I practice I’ll never be as good at sword fighting as him. Heh, and now I’ve got you to compete with too!”_

_“I know he’ll end up being an amazing king! It’s probably for the best that he’s the eldest. He’s going to do a much better job than I could.”_

_“Isn’t it depressing that I’m just a normal type when Lee is a fire type? I can’t help but be jealous of all of you guys. Not like there’s anything I can do about it.”_

Victor wants to reach into Hop and pull out any insecurities he has because again and again no matter how many times Hop tries to convince him he’s inferior Victor can only see him as wonderful. _‘You try so hard no matter what. You’ve never given up. You’re so determined to help people. Your type doesn’t determine your worth. You’re_ **_incredible._ ** _’_

Every time Victor talks to him like that Hop gets flustered and smiles shyly and the Zacian’s heart explodes and he wants to clutch his chest at how adorable he is.

He’s really **really** falling for him. 

Hop, on the other hand, is a little more oblivious to his own feelings. Or rather he’s causing himself to be. 

Each and every time he thinks

_‘Victor smells nice.’_

_‘Victor has such a great laugh.’_

_‘Victor looks so handsome when he’s focused.’_

He **immediately** tells himself the sentiments are platonic, as if he’s arguing with himself about his own intentions. The angel and devil on his shoulder having a back and forth of _‘It’s platonic!’ ‘It’s romantic!’_

Another issue there is there's no way for him to tell which side is the angel and which side is the devil. One thing is for sure, though. That he’s becoming deeply attached. It makes him fearful. What would become of their friendship once they were freed of the burden that bound them to this castle? Would they continue on like this or…

Would it just fade away?

Hop burns with desire to remain by Victor’s side like a Pokémon with its trainer. Victor is so flawed and damaged and each shard of his chipped heart Hop finds he wants to tear up his own to fill those gaps.

He pushes the word “love” out of his head. Persuade himself into thinking this bond is platonic or familial. 

It’s a lie. He is just as in love with Victor as Victor is with him.

Hop is thrust back into the present when his hands are overlaid with Victor’s.

“Are you okay? You’re holding your sword totally wrong,” Victor asks. Hop’s face flushes as Victor picks up his hands to place them in the right position. By standing behind him. With his head over his shoulder and breath against his ear. The horned boy feels his hair stand on end as he gets goosebumps from it. Victor’s firm chest against his back and his strong arms wrapped around him. 

“I’m fine!” Hop assures him a bit too loudly, voice cracking with nervousness. 

Hop squirms at the sensation of Victor exhaling a laugh on his neck. 

“You’re breathing on my neck! Get off!” Hop yelps. Before he can squirm away, Victor wraps his arms around Hop tightly and blows in his ear. Hop screeches.

“Are you ticklish?” Victor asks in amusement. Hop tries to wiggle out of his grasp.

“Anyone is gonna get uncomfortable with you invading their personal space in every way!” Hop wails.

“Didn’t answer my question,” Victor reminds him deviously. Before Hop can wiggle away he drums his fingers up and down Hop’s sides. Hop bursts into involuntary laughter and he’s bombarded with tickles.

“Stop! Stop stop stop stop, aaah!” Hop wails between laughs, tears springing to his eyes. Victor pulls his hands away, chuckling to himself.

“Alright, alright, I got you to laugh, so I got what I wanted,” he confesses, stepping back.

Trying to catch his breath, Hop turns around quickly with a devious glint in his eyes. “But I didn’t!”

He tackles Victor. He’s able to catch himself on his elbows but drops to the ground quickly as Hop retaliates his earlier attack with tickles of his own, a wicked grin spreading across his face. “How’s it feel to be on the other end?”

Hop feels...so lucky to be like this. Roughhousing with Victor and getting to hear his goofy booming laughter. He’ll cherish these memories that they’ll make between the solemn ones.

—

A knock at the door. A familiar knock, one preceded by familiar footsteps. Gloria sucks in a breath. She knows that she’ll have no choice but to face him eventually. Yet, every morning she’s been telling herself _‘I’m not ready yet, maybe tomorrow.’_ And now, Bede has given her no choice on the matter.

He opens the door.

Bede doesn’t look afraid, opening the door as confidently as he had in the past. His lilac eyes look at her with a purpose. She feels so _seen._ Bede always makes her feel seen, be it outside or in.

“I—” Gloria starts.

“It’s fine. Everything that happened. I understand,” Bede says. His voice is steady and certain.

Gloria’s ears tip back and her lip wobbles. “No it isn’t. It isn’t in the slightest. I hurt you. I’m a monster. You should be afraid of me. All of you should be afraid of me,” she insists.

“Whatever. I don’t care if you’re a monster or if you hurt me. I’m not afraid of you,” Bede answers, stepping into her room and approaching her chair. She sinks further into the cushion, wishing she could disappear. “I’m not leaving. Rather, I want to do the complete opposite. Until your mission is completed and all that after. You’ll have to rip off my head to stop me from that.”  
“What?” Gloria responds breathlessly. “No. No! You can’t do that. You _know_ you’re going to need to leave in a few months.”

Before she can continue to refute him, Bede interrupts again. “No. I’m not going to leave. I’m going to fight Eternatus with you.”

Gloria gapes like a fish, discombobulated by the absolutely _insane_ ideas Bede is proposing. “You can’t possibly think you can do that!”

“Why? Do you think I’m weak? Do you think I’m nothing but a distraction?” 

Gloria gnaws her lip. “You aren’t _weak,_ but…” She glances at his right arm (or lack thereof) with guilt burning in her stomach. “This is my job as Zamazenta and my brother’s job as Zacian.”

“Well then you better tell that to Victor and Hop,” Bede retorts, gaining her full attention. “They’ve been practicing together. Victor is teaching Hop how to sword fight. The little sheep is convinced that he can fight alongside you.”

Gloria’s head is spinning once again. Firstly, Bede is suddenly on a first-name basis with her brother, and secondly, it seems said brother has gone completely insane. “What? What!? They’re crazy! He’s surely just humoring him for the time being!”

“Maybe he is. But maybe I want in,” Bede adds.

“What!? Why? Why would you do something so...so—! You can’t! You can’t do that!” she stammers.

“If you refuse to let me fight alongside you, then at least let me help you from the sidelines. I can use my magic to increase your stats and boost your attacks,” Bede insists. 

_“Let me help you from the sidelines.”_

Gloria feels her throat seize up and her eyes go wide. _‘No, no, no. Anything but that. Absolutely anything but that.’_

The images flash through her mind in painful vividness. Her parents were **killed** because people decided to “help from the sidelines.” For years and years, Gloria blistered with a scorching hot rage. She was overcome with hate for not only Eternatus, but the **idiots** who were nothing but liabilities to her parents. If everyone had just _done as they were told_ then her parents wouldn’t be fucking—

Bede severs the silence and leaves Gloria feeling disoriented.

“I love you.”

Gloria blinks at him incredulously. “W-Wh—You’re out of your mind,” is her reply. She can’t look at him.

He reminds her so much of the fact that the only reason all those people stuck behind to “help” her parents was because they too loved her parents. They all sacrificed their lives just in hopes of helping them win the fight. 

“You aren’t _safe_ around me. I hurt you and I’ll do it again. If you stay here when Eternatus awakens then you’ll surely die,” Gloria reprimands. 

Bede looks into her eyes with determination, his amethyst eyes seeing past her fiery ones into her soul. He _knows_ her. He _knows_ that she won't hurt him again. He _knows_ that the reason she’s so afraid is because she doesn’t want him to get killed. He takes hold of her hand with a firmness Gloria has never experienced from anyone before. 

“Don’t be stupid. As if I care about something like that. Did you not hear me the first time? Do I need to write it down? I said I **love** you, Gloria.”

The use of her name makes the Queen blush and stutter. “S-Stupid? For you to have the audacity to—to say something like that to me, you—”

Bede cuts her off with, “I’m courting you. Let me prove my feelings to you. I’m not just some _burden._ I refuse to ever be something like that to you. I’m going to keep accompanying you until you tear me limb from limb.”

She flushes bright red in the face. “You can’t be serious!”

Bede squeezes her hand tightly and his eyes never leave hers even with how many times she tries to look away. “Of course I am. Gloria. Let me.”

She squeezes her eyes shut and tries to wake up from this dream but it doesn’t happen. Tears prick at her eyes. “Why…?”

“You’re the first person who’s loved me back,” he answers. Gloria doesn’t even need to say the words herself. He already knows the sentiment is returned.

Gloria was the first person to ever laugh at his jokes. The first person who would listen to his complaining and only ever quip in to agree. The first person who had ever _hugged him._ The first person who told him she only drank coffee so much because he was the one who made it for her, who painted hearts on his cheeks and told him he was her favorite piece of art, who only ever hurt him because she thought he was abandoning her like everyone else in her life had, who stood before him on the brink of tears solely because she couldn’t believe that their playful flirting would be taken past that. 

Gloria sobs. She cries hard and loud and she doesn’t recall ever having done so since her parents died. _‘He doesn’t hate me! He doesn’t want to leave me! He loves me! Bede loves me!’_

“I love you, Bede! I love you so much! Please don’t stay and get hurt!”

He reaches up and wipes away her tears. “I won’t get hurt. Neither will you. We’re going to protect each other. Today, tomorrow, when Eternatus awakens, and every day in between and after.” Gloria lunges forward into his arms and hugs him tightly. He pets her head and her tail wags. 

“Are you sure? Are you really sure?” she asks. Bede hums in confirmation.

Gloria stands up straight and changes her expression, sniffling loudly. “Then that’s settled! Y-You...We’ll start training together! And when the time comes then you and Victor and I will take on Eternatus together! And then—”

Hand still in Bede’s, Gloria tilts forward. Her eyes flutter close, brushing against Bede’s blonde ones. She reaches up her free hand to cup Bede’s cheek. She kisses him. A tenderness she only ever reserved for two people in her life. Her lips are so soft and Bede wishes she would never pull away.

“And then you and I can do whatever we want. You won't have to see your shitbag ‘father’ and we won’t have to stay in this castle and I won’t have to worry about keeping the region safe all alone anymore.” 

Bede nods firmly in agreement and she tilts her head to the side, looking at him affectionately. He always takes things so seriously. She holds the hope in her heart that one day she’ll be able to see him smile and laugh without a care in the world. She wants to smile and laugh there alongside him. He tips his head back to kiss her tearstained cheek. 

“Please just stay with me today. I missed you,” Gloria asks softly.

“Of course, your majesty.”

“Don’t call me that, dummy…”

—

“It’s your turn,” Bede says, hand on his hip. Marnie looks at her lap, twiddling her thumbs. She wishes she had a book or plate or _anything_ to hide her face with, but she can’t do that. Instead she opts for not saying a word.

“Did you not hear me? I told Gloria how I feel about her. Now you do it.” He isn’t budging, blocking the doorframe, and keeping her trapped until she agrees.

“She loves ya back. Why would ah tell her?” Marnie refutes quietly. She’s accepted that fact for quite a while. Time hasn’t yet dulled the ache of her broken heart.

Bede rolls his eyes and clicks his tongue. The time he’d spent with Gloria yesterday and what they spoke about, how deeply personal they’d gotten, and the way his girlfriend had spoken about Marnie: he was missing an arm, not his brain. “Trust me. It’ll be the right thing to do. For the both of you. Don’t you want to remain close to her? Don’t you want to...to not be hurting like this?” Bede says, subtle but with clear intent.

Marnie looks up at him glassy-eyed. Looks away. Back up. “Ah guess.”

“You guess?” Bede mocks.

She furrows her eyebrows and pouts at the blonde. “Yeah. Fine. ah’ll do it. Then leave me alone about it.”

—

That was how Marnie ended up being shoved into Gloria’s room by Bede. She hesitated for so long that Bede had “no other choice.” She stumbles in and the brunette inside looks up, startled. 

That is, before she smiles and wags her tail. “Marnie!” She clears her throat, trying to hide her excitement. “How can I help you?”

“Um. Um!” Marnie yelps, straightening her posture. “Bede told me...about how ya two...me too! I also—!”

“Want to fight Eternatus with the rest of us?” Gloria interjects. She _knows_ what Marnie is actually trying to say, but she won't let this opportunity of flustering the Morpeko pass her.

Marnie’s face flushes. “T-That...ah will. If ah can help ya do that, if you'd let me help ya, then of course ah will.” The wolf grins at the fact that Marnie’s only accent peeks back out the most flustered she gets.

Gloria smiles politely. “Thank you. I can hardly believe you two are so brave. I’m...really really thankful to have you. You mean so much to me.”

“I love you!” Marnie yells impulsively. And once it’s out, the dam has broken and the flood rushes out. “I have for a really long time! Ya’ve been such a delight! Ah can’t believe how—Ah’m so lucky ya’ve shown me you! Ah’ve wanted to tell ya, but I know that you and Bede are together, so it’s okay! Ah just needed to say it!”

“I love you too,” Gloria answers, getting to her feet. Marnie starts to cry, because of course Gloria would say that. That she loves her. As a _friend._

Marnie is pulled into an embrace that she doesn’t resist. “Please stay with me, too, Marnie.”

Marnie sniffles and nods. “Of course I will.”

Bede steps into the room with an exasperated sigh. “Gloria, be clearer.”

Gloria looks up, offended. “What? What’s clearer than ‘I love you’?” Then, the lightbulb goes off in Gloria’s head. Before Bede can actually answer her question, Gloria is grabbing Marnie by both sides of her face into a tender kiss. Marnie’s eyes shoot open and she flails her arms aimlessly, unable to enjoy the moment because _WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON!?_

When Gloria releases her, Marnie stumbles back, practically steaming with how red her face is getting. Bede bumps shoulders with her. “That isn’t what I meant, but that works too.”

“What!? What does that mean!?” Marnie asks, exasperated. 

“Can you really not understand? She’s reciprocating. She loves you too. Do you need her to turn into a wolf and lick your whole face for you to get it?” Bede flicks an ear at her. He’s smiling though, incredibly amused by the show the two are giving with their emotional ineptitude. Not that he’s one to talk.

“But—You—” Marnie gestures between Bede and Gloria.

“I don’t want to choose,” Gloria answers.

“I’m willing to share if you are,” Bede adds immediately after.

Marnie can’t believe what she’s hearing. This has gone much **much** better than she pictured it going. _‘So this is why Bede was so persistent.’_

Marnie swallows hard and wipes her face. “Yeah! Ah’d like that!” 

She’s quickly sandwiched between the bodies of two people who care about her an incredible amount. She feels so warm. 

Tomorrow they’ll tell Hop and Victor about their wanting in on the battle practice and planning. But for today, they just want to be like this for a while.


	8. One Last Stand

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's finally the day that Victor and Gloria will face Eternatus. With their allies alongside them, this is as prepared as they can possibly be with the time they had. There's only one way to find out if that will be enough.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i am SO INCREDIBLY SORRY this chapter took so long to come out!!!  
> i honestly struggled with it a lot, this was my first time writing such a huge and complex fight scene  
> hopefully its descriptive enough to visualize!! i combined sword fighting with pokémon moves as best as possible!!

Hop feels like he’s being crushed under a boulder with how strained his breathing is. He snaps out of his terrified daze at the weight of Victor’s hand on his shoulder. Hop jolts to awareness and snaps his head around to face him.

“You don’t have to do this. You can back out now,” Victor reminds him. The King is already wearing his armor. Hop finds his armor a bit over the top with its colored designs, but he knows they are things important to his family. Gloria has her hair drawn back into a high ponytail that sways slightly as she helps adjust Marnie’s armor. No one so small has ever needed to wear it before, but there’s no way in hell Gloria is letting her girlfriend be within miles of an awakened Eternatus without lots of protection. Bede is already such a good looking guy that he looks natural in the shining garb. It makes Hop a little self-conscious that he must look dumb in comparison, with his braids pulled back into a tiny ponytail so they aren’t flipping around during the battle. Victor knows better than to call him cute out loud as it wouldn’t do any good for Hop’s fragile masculinity, but  _ dammit  _ it’s so cute.

Hop takes a deep breath, clutching his sword. He knows out of the five of them that his status as a normal type would make him a liability without it. He  _ could  _ step out. He  _ could  _ leave it up to the four here that are undoubtedly stronger than him. But that’s the thing. He  _ can  _ leave.

Victor and Gloria can’t. 

Because of that, Hop looks deadly serious as he shakes his head no. “Absolutely not. I promised you, remember?”

Victor smiles because he can hardly believe he was blessed with a friend so incredible and brave. “You did.”

“And we’re going to win,” Hop assures him with confidence.

“Just kiss already,” Marnie says, voice steady.

Hop flushes bright red and stumbles over word after word before shutting his mouth. Victor manages to keep himself composed enough to remind her that “Now, now, we aren’t a couple.”

“Yet,” Gloria whispers to Marnie, intentionally loud enough for the other three to hear.

“I can’t believe you have the gall to be fooling around right now,” Bede sighs. 

Gloria grins at him. “It’s because we’re  _ ready.” _ Bede doesn’t disagree, instead opting to roll his eyes and smirk in amusement.

Grip white knuckle tight on the hilt of his sword, Hop asks, “So are we...are we just going in? Do we wait for some kind of signal?”

“Last time  **it** didn’t give any sort of warning. All we know is that it’s awakening within the next few days. We should beat it to the punch while we’re fully prepared and it’s still drowsy, don’t you think?” Bede retorts. Hop takes a deep breath.

“Yeah. Sorry. I know. I’m just...I can’t believe we’re finally doing this,” he says. Marnie hums and Gloria gives her a side hug. (A very loud one with their armor being on.)

Victor unlocks the hefty door next to the staircase and Hop feels his stomach fly into his throat as if he’d just jumped off the roof. “I’ll go first,” Victor says, which none of them disagree with. One by one shaky ceiling lights illuminate the decrepit staircase leading into the underground lair the dragon had forged itself after burrowing back into the earth following its first near defeat. Marnie coughs as dust flies into the air, having been roused for the first time in years after the door was slammed shut and locked for almost just as long. 

They go deeper

and deeper

and deeper.

Every step down makes Hop’s anxiety grow more and more. Victor stops abruptly, Gloria almost knocking into his back. Before any of them can ask anything, Hop can see the glowing red from within the cavern reflecting on Victor’s armor. Victor shivers. Gloria can see it again. Victor too recalls the last time they were illuminated by that familiar red glow.  _ The ashes circling the air. Was it wood? Or was it burnt flesh he was inhaling? Was it his parents' remains that he was blinking out of his eyes? Were he and Gloria really all that remained of their family?  _

Gloria’s eyes grow glassy, but she blinks them hard, grinding her teeth. She refuses to be afraid. She will only be  **angry.** Now is the time for her to be  **mad,** and to use all of that anger to win and get the revenge she’s wanted for so long.

Victor looks back at her. He wishes he was as brave as and had as much determination as his twin. He’s terrified. Even so, he isn’t alone. He’s become so much less alone. And for that, he’s more willing to fight than ever.

They take their final steps into the depths of Eternatus’ den. It looks over at them. Just as they’d hoped, it doesn’t seem to be completely awake yet. They can feel the pressure it exerts. The room is illuminated almost exclusively by the pulsing red glow from inside the beasts chest.

The five heroes ready themselves.

The battle begins.

**_Eternatus appeared!_ **

**_Go on, Victor! I know you can do it!_ **

**_-Victor used Howl!-_ **

_ The user howls loudly to raise the spirit of itself and allies. This raises their Attack stats. _

Victor raises his head to the ceiling and howls loudly as he and Gloria turn into Zacian and Zamazenta far faster than they’ve ever been able to before. It was something they’d been practicing together. All their practices together...all the time they’d spent together, bonding, getting stronger…

The sound of that howl solidifies that this is  **happening** and that they could fight with all their might for the sake of each other. 

**_-Eternatus used Cross Poison!-_ **

_ A slashing attack with a poisonous blade that may also poison the target. Critical hits land more easily. _

Attracted by the sound, Eternatus’ attention is drawn to Victor first. Visually, he and Gloria are the most obvious threats. Their armor blending with their fur as if it were a part of them and Victor holding his sword in his jaws. With its long indigo claws, it swipes towards Victor. Poison flies across the room as it sprays from its claws while lunging towards the wolf. But Victor is faster.

**_-Victor avoided the attack!-_ **

He and Gloria launch in opposite directions, the distance of their lunges enough to escape the attack. Just as they’d hoped, the beast continues to follow Victor with its eyes. The perfect opening for Gloria. 

**_-Gloria used Metal Claw!-_ **

_ The target is raked with steel claws. This may also raise the user's Attack stat. _

Galloping forward, Gloria lunges towards Eternatus with her paws outstretched. With a jump, she drags her large claws along its underbelly, her armor scraping across its red flesh too. The monster screeches in anger, but the attack isn’t enough to cause a lot of substantial damage just yet. But it’s a start. Gloria lands underneath Eternatus and runs out from the left quickly to rejoin her allies. 

**_-Marnie used Spark!-_ **

_ The user throws an electrically charged tackle at the target. This may also leave the target with paralysis. _

Sword and shield in hand, Marnie runs from behind Victor and Gloria to rush the dragon herself. It lowers its head to better see her in the darkness. Suddenly the glow from Eternatus’ body is no longer the only bright light in the room. From within Marnie electricity ripples through her. She directs it into her arm wielding her sword. The electric attack in her hand injects itself into her sword causing it to spark and flash in the darkness. With a battle cry and impressive jump Marnie slashes her sword between Eternatus’ eyes. It not only slices the beast but shocks it too, making it even more painful and slightly burning the skin.

Landing with practiced ease, Marnie readies herself next to Victor for their next move as they watch Eternatus yell in pain, reaching its claws up to scratch at its face and rid itself of whatever it was that was harming it.

**_-Bede used Misty Terrain!-_ **

_ This protects Pokémon on the ground from status conditions and halves damage from Dragon-type moves for five turns. _

Nearest to the entrance, Bede focuses, body low to the ground. With his Fairy type powers, he’s able to materialize a pink fog. Fairy types effectiveness against Dragon types will make this an essential decision. Completing his first task, Bede is able to further approach his team and opponent with increased confidence. 

**_-Hop used Tackle!-_ **

_ A physical attack in which the user charges and slams into the target with its whole body. _

Hop  **refuses** to be a liability. No matter how much people looked down on Normal types, he wouldn’t let that affect him. Victor had taught him to fight well, and with gleaming eyes Hop appears from the shadows. Dashing into action, Hop roars as he stabs his sword into Eternatus’ side with enough strength to cleave from the point of penetration all the way down to its stomach. Glowing red blood on his blade, Hop drops to the grounds beside Eternatus.

**_-Victor used Behemoth Blade!-_ **

_ The user becomes a gigantic sword and cuts the target. _

Victor holds back a grin of pride at Hop’s successful slash. Eternatus reels back to turn itself towards Hop, which is something Victor just can’t allow. Unsheathing the sword at his side, gripping the hilt in his jaws, he’s able to rush his own energy through it like a thunderbolt. In a flash the metal spreads to be triple its original size and bright blue in color. With a running start, Victor takes advantage of Eternatus turning its head and slashes its neck. The energy within the sword disperses into Eternatus, bursting bubbles of flesh as it cuts through the thick scaly skin with ease. As quickly as it grew, Victor’s sword returns to normal size, but he keeps it at the ready.

**_-Eternatus used Flamethrower!-_ **

_ The target is scorched with an intense blast of fire. This may also leave the target with a burn. _

Eternatus thrashes in reaction to Victor’s brutal attack. It retaliates with one just as brutal: Maybe not in strength, but in the spread. Using the glowing energy in its stomach, flames rocket to Eternatus’ mouth. Pivoting its head across the room, it breathes fire as far as it can reach.

**_-Bede avoided the attack! Hop avoided the attack!-_ **

**_-Victor was burned! Gloria was burned!-_ **

Bede, being the furthest back, and Hop, being directly next to the monster, wince with the heat and bright light, but aren’t blasted by the flames. Being directly in front of it, Marnie, Gloria, and Victor take the full force of the hit. 

As self-sacrificial as their parents, Gloria and Victor move in front of Marnie so she isn’t burned as brutally as them. Their fur scorches and singes at the tips and their armor heats up so much the parts closest to their bodies make blistering wounds.

**_-Gloria used Metal Burst!-_ **

_ The user retaliates with much greater force against the opponent that last inflicted damage on it. _

Gloria, without hesitation, takes advantage of her painfully hot armor by leaping onto the snout of the beast to hammer her full body weight plus all of her pointed armor between its eyes. The dragon's face is burned and sliced in unison and throws its head back, sending Gloria soaring forward. She manages to land on her feet and Victor runs to her side to help her regain her balance. 

**_-Marnie used Volt Switch!-_ **

_ After making its attack, the user rushes back to switch places with a party Pokémon in waiting. _

While Eternatus is still reeling from Gloria’s attack, Marnie takes full advantage of attention being completely drawn away from her. As she had before, her cheeks spark as jolts of electricity travel from her hands to her sword. Racing past the two wolves, she gashes Eternatus at the very top of its torso under its chin. The electricity makes the hit not only painful at its landing point, but sends a current through the Pokémon right down to its guts. 

**_-Bede used Swift!-_ **

_ Star-shaped rays are shot at opposing Pokémon. This attack never misses. _

Before Eternatus can even figure out what hit it, Bede slashes at the empty air in its direction. The sword itself doesn’t touch Eternatus, but from the sword comes flying magical rays of stars. They swirl in the air as they speed towards their opponent before crashing into it like a meteor shower.

Marnie turns back to look at Bede. Both of them clad in their armor and swords in hand smile at each other in pride and appreciation across the battlefield. 

**_-Hop used Defense Curl!-_ **

_ The user curls up to conceal weak spots and raise its Defense stat. _

Hop, still physically closest to Eternatus while being out of range of its attacks, turns wide-eyed to look at the torso of the beast next to him. The red glow illuminating his face reminds him of one of Victor’s moves he knew he planned to use. The way Eternatus’ glow intensifies and swirling insides increases in speed Hop is certain Victor and Eternatus are both sure to use a powerful move next. 

Hop drops down, shielding himself the best he can. Where he’s standing he’s sure he’s bound to be hit by something, be it fire, poison, or Eternatus itself.

**_-Victor was hurt by his burn! Gloria was hurt by her burn!-_ **

Almost in unison the twins shudder painfully. The burns they sustained would ache far after the battle was over...if they were able to survive it. There was no time to tend for any of their wounds in the middle of this. They had a region to protect.

**_-Victor used Hyperbeam!-_ **

_ The target is attacked with a powerful beam. The user can't move on the next turn. _

Victor uses the move just about all of their team was shocked and awed by the fact he was able to use.  _ ‘I’m a legendary, after all,’  _ he’d excused, but even so considering the fact he can become humanoid and just about the size of the rest of them makes it even more insane to see. He braces himself with all four of his legs as he gathers as much of his energy he can possibly expend in one move into a beam of bright white light. His eyes sting with tears at its heat and brightness before he fires it towards Eternatus with a forceful bark. It crashes into Eternatus full force, a head-on direct hit! The dragon screeches and thrashes around, its tail narrowly missing Hop who is  _ very  _ grateful he took for cover. However, the damage the attack causes doesn’t disperse the beam Eternatus had been preparing it retaliation. 

**_-Eternatus used Dynamax Cannon!-_ **

_ The user unleashes a strong beam from its core. _

Vengeful, Eternatus aims directly at Victor with its Dynamax Cannon, an energy source that only Eternatus is known to be able to contain. Victor stiffens in fear. He can hardly move, body nearly paralyzed after his Hyper Beam. He needs time to recover before he can attack again or even dodge. He stands his ground, left with no other choice, looking back at the beast with fury. Even now, he won’t back down. As Eternatus cannonades its attack, Victor is suddenly knocked over by his sister who stands tall over him. He’s still injured by the attack, but Gloria takes most of the force for him, legs buckling under the extreme force. 

“Gloria! Defend yourself, not me!” Victor barks at her.

“You’re my brother! You’re an idiot if you don’t think I’m going to do everything I can to keep you safe!” she snaps back. Victor wants to argue  _ so much  _ but knows they don’t have time for that. 

In anger at Eternatus for continuing to barrage only the King and Queen with attacks, Marnie changes forms, her eyes turning red and markings becoming black. She clenches her sword tightly, planning her next move.

Even after just taking the full force of a Dynamax Cannon, Gloria knows Victor needs time to recover from using Hyper Beam. She dashes towards the dragon to protect her brother and their friends. 

**_-Gloria used Crunch!-_ **

_ The user crunches up the target with sharp fangs. This may also lower the target's Defense stat. _

She leaps up, latching onto one of Eternatus’ claws with all her might. It swings its arm wildly, trying to throw her off, but her teeth sink in hard enough that a cracking sound can be heard as they pierce its exoskeleton. Bede doesn’t know if to flinch or feel pride for Gloria. He knows first hand how strong those jaws are. 

Gloria finally let’s go, believing the majority of the damage her attack deals accomplished. She goes careening into the air, positive she’ll be able to land on her feet. Even so—

“Bede! Catch her!” Marnie shouts to the Sylveon. He nods hard enough to be sure she sees. Gloria would pout if she could. Bede will be  _ crushed  _ if she hits him in this form, so in her descent she tries to revert to her human form hastily in her seconds airborne. She knows she won’t be able to change all the way in a period of time so incredibly short, but even partway will lighten the load.

**_-Marnie used Aura Wheel!-_ **

_ Morpeko attacks and raises its Speed with the energy stored in its cheeks. This move's type changes depending on the user's form. _

Dark energy makes Marnie’s eyes and cheeks glow red and purple. She rushes towards the Dragon-type Pokémon with an intense battle cry, sword in hand as her Dark-type powers travel into her sword just like she had prior using her electricity. She runs as if the darkness of the room is only amplifying her power. She slashes her sword on the side of Eternatus’ body, the metal clashing loudly with its ribs. Her dark aura leaves her sword as it shoots into Eternatus like invisible spikes. Sprinting away from the monster, Marnie’s eyes seem to return to their original cerulean.

Bede catches Gloria in his arms. It’s horribly loud, the noise of their armor colliding. They both crumble to the ground, but he likely saved her from some extra damage. Gloria smiles and gives him a kiss on the cheek.

“Thank you, my hero,” she says, only half teasing.

**_-Bede used Light Screen!-_ **

_ A wondrous wall of light is put up to reduce damage from special attacks for five turns. _

Lifting his hand out in focus, Bede closes his eyes and a hardly visible pink wall rises up around each of his party members. It shimmers before turning completely transparent. It won’t be able to protect them entirely but they’d be unable to attack if it did which would be an atrocious choice considering their goal.

**_-Hop used Tackle!-_ **

Hop has been watching this whole time, of course. Everyone is doing their part. He has his to do too! Marnie just slashed at one of Eternatus’ sides, so the other one’s his! He’s traveled as far as he could to the side of the dragon, pressing his back against the dirt wall of the den before taking a running start and leaping towards Eternatus. Sword raised above his head, he stabs his sword almost completely into Eternatus. The beast howls in pain, trying to turn to find its assailant. Hop clings to his sword handle and with a groan of effort pulls the sword out by pressing his feet up against Eternatus. As a result he crashes to the ground, but his little tumble doesn’t damage him even twenty-five percent of what he delivered to Eternatus. 

Victor and Gloria both grin with pride. This is actually going well!

**_-Victor broke through his burn! Gloria broke through her burn!-_ **

Even with their injuries and aches, this team isn’t close to giving up. If things are going well, then they need to keep trying their hardest to maintain that!

**_-Victor can’t move this turn.-_ **

Still immobilized after using Hyper Beam, Victor anxiously looks around the cave at his friends. No one seems to be in a situation similar to his. Good, good. 

**_-Eternatus used Dragon Pulse!-_ **

_ The target is attacked with a shock wave generated by the user's gaping mouth. _

Now wary of Gloria over Victor, Eternatus focuses its attention and attacks on her. Opening its giant maw it shoots a fiery purple beam at her. 

“Gloria, dodge, dodge!” Victor shouts at her, but she’s too stubborn to listen. Under the immense pressure of Dragon Pulse, Gloria transforms back into Zamazenta and locks in her shields, rushing back even with the ray following her. 

**_-Gloria used Behemoth Bash!-_ **

With a running start, Gloria sprints towards Eternatus as its Dragon Pulse slows to a stop. She bashes it head-on with her full weight and huge pointed armor. She bounces off of its face with her feet successfully before it throws its head back in pain. It shakes it off and refocuses, growling ferociously. Victor rises back up shakily. He’s frustrated that Gloria won’t listen and instead is focusing only on attacking and not defending despite being the shield hero, but he can’t put any priority on stopping her, only stopping Eternatus. 

**_-Marnie used Aura Wheel!-_ **

Sending electricity bolting down her sword, Marnie runs across the cavern with her sparking sword held high. Jumping and swiping, she slashes across Eternatus’ throat. If this were any other Pokémon, cutting its throat would be a surefire way to defeat it. With Eternatus’ armor, it’s certainly painful for it, but isn’t nearly fatal. 

**_-Bede uses Last Resort!-_ **

_ This move can be used only after the user has used all the other moves it knows in the battle. _

Running past Marnie in the opposite direction, Bede slices Eternatus’ throat just as she had. His sword may not have an electric current, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t just as strong.

**_-Hop used Payback!-_ **

_ The user stores power, then attacks. If the user moves after the target, this attack's power will be doubled. _

Hop runs from the side and underneath Eternatus, waiting for the right moment. He needs to decide if its the best choice to stab into its torso or under its jaw. He waits. He doesn’t want to waste the opportunity he has being out of sight.

**_-Victor used Behemoth Blade!-_ **

Watching Marnie and Bede attack as a duo revitalizes Victor. He’s ready again to attack with all his might using his “signature move,” as Hop had called it. Held in his mouth, his sword instantly grows in size, bright blue, glowing, and sharper than before. He swipes it across Eternatus’ face, explosions bursting through Eternatus’ exoskeleton. A painful open flesh wound is made and Victor can’t help but celebrate internally at the sight of it. 

**_-Eternatus used Dynamax Cannon!-_ **

There’s no time to get excited about one successful move, however. Eternatus is quick to retaliate, but instead of Victor it keeps its eyes on Gloria whos been the one to make the most moves on it thus far. Painfully bright it fires its Dynamax Cannon at her once more, and just like Dragon Pulse, even running around the room as fast as she can won’t be able to save her from this attack. Gloria is absolutely crushed under it. It feels like being fried inside and out, and this time she isn’t able to withstand it. 

She’s thrown back before collapsing. 

**_-Gloria fainted!-_ **

In an instant, her consciousness is taken away. She’s still breathing, but she’s down for the count until she has a long while to wake back up, which isn’t something they have time for.

**_-Marnie used Spark!-_ **

Furiously, Marnie takes a u-turn and stabs into Eternatus’ right arm. Held up by her sword, she tightens all her muscles and shoots bolt after bolt of electricity through the sword into Eternatus. It doesn’t paralyze it, but it certainly leaves its claws on that arm twitching and useless. Marnie doesn’t have time to pull out her sword before Eternatus throws her off. Falling off with a scream, Marnie smashes loudly to the ground, left without a weapon. 

**_-Bede used Light Screen!-_ ** __

While Eternatus is distracted by Marnie, Bede sprints towards Gloria. He kneels next to her, checking that she’s only fainted and that she isn’t painfully twisted up at all. He uses Light Screen to cover both of them as he does so. 

**_-Hop used Payback!-_ **

Hop is even more terrified than he already was, seeing Gloria, the member of their party he had assumed to be the most hardy, fall to the ground. He bends his knees and jumps up, stabbing his sword into Eternatus’ exposed underbelly. Its Dynamax Energy courses through him as he struggles to swing his body and dislodge his sword. It’s painful as all hell, but he takes it like a champ. Falling down right onto his feet, he’s proud to recognize that the stab was deep enough to reach its energy source. 

**_-Victor used Sacred Sword!-_ **

Even with his sword having shrunk back into its normal size, Victor rushes to Eternatus’ right forearm, still containing Marnie’s sword. He swipes its shoulder and tries to dislodge her sword in doing so, but it only wiggles out a smidge, held in place.  _ ‘She really stabbed it in there deep, huh?’ _

Despite being the smallest of the five, being part Electric-type part Dark-type and having gotten even stronger and stronger through their training, Marnie was essential. 

**_-Eternatus used Cross Poison!-_ **

Eternatus knows this. Just how strong Marnie is, seeing as she’s the one whos been taking the greatest advantage of her typing in both of her forms. It took down Gloria, the one who attacked him most frequently. Now it aimed to take out the person whos attacks risked disabling it. Raising its claw, fingertips again spurting poison, it reaches out to Marnie, who is completely in its view. It crushes her chest plate like its nothing, the poison spraying onto her body and launching her into the air.

**_-Marnie fainted!-_ **

Victor runs to try and catch her, but even if he could, it wouldn’t be able to save her in this situation. Skin burning and head spinning, Marnie crashes loudly to the ground, head hitting the soil so hard it bounces. She’s out cold by the time Victor has reached her. He drops down, reverting to his humanoid form to check that she’s alive as Bede had with Gloria. 

**_-Bede used Swift!-_ **

Standing up defiantly, Bede takes Gloria’s place in front of Eternatus. He raises his sword and swings it downward, sending sharp stars towards the beast. It stuns Eternatus with just how many come flying and each and every one hits its mark.

**_-Hop used Defense Curl!-_ **

Around the border of the room, Hop runs from underneath Eternatus to reach Marnie.

“You’re stronger than me, you attack and I’ll keep her out of harms way,” Hop hurries to instruct Victor. His heart is pounding. He knows he’s the weakest, but he’ll do whatever it takes to help Victor and Gloria win the fight that they’d been tasked to value their lives over. 

Victor nods. “Thank you!” he tells Hop before running to stand alongside Bede. He reserves his energy and doesn’t waste it to return to being fully Zacian. 

**_-Victor used Hyper Beam!-_ **

Holding both his hands out in front of him, pure white energy builds between his hands. He releases it all at once, aiming for the injury he made on Eternatus’ head with his sword prior. It explodes on Eternatus’ face, pushing it back. Victor’s feet dig into the ground. The remainder of his strength he expends staying standing. 

**_-Eternatus used Flamethrower!-_ **

Eternatus throws its head back, flames rushing up its throat. It lowers its head, throwing fire all around the room. Gloria is far away enough to not retain any more injuries and Hop protects Marnie using his body. He cries out in pain at the searing heat, but doesn’t budge.

Standing directly in front of Eternatus with a complete inability to dodge, Victor and Bede are not as lucky. 

**_-Victor was badly burned!-_ **

No fur covering him, the fire scathes his body, seeping through his armor and making the burning hot metal less of a form of defense and instead a weapon against him. He’s exhausted of energy and unable to run away, taking the full damage of the attack.

**_-Bede fainted!-_ **

The fire knocks Bede away. Light Screen and Misty Terrain have stopped affecting him. He’s unable to prepare himself in time to stand his ground and falls to his knees before toppling over, failing to withstand the attack. Victor can hardly move, but immediately jogs to stand over Bede’s unconscious body. He’s fainted, but Victor won’t allow his friend to be injured any amount past that.

**_-Hop used Double Edge!-_ **

_ A reckless, life-risking tackle in which the user rushes the target. This also damages the user quite a lot. _

Hop grinds his teeth. Things are growing dire. This isn’t good at all. He gets to his feet. This is on him now. Just a Normal-type who didn’t know a thing about the Sword and Shield heroes and their responsibilities before he chose to make those responsibilities his own. Even if he dies in the process, he won’t abandon ship. He won’t give up.

Hop sprints, adrenaline making his head buzz, and throws himself at Eternatus and stabbing his sword with all of his weight and might. It shatters through Eternatus’ armor and stabs far enough inside it to pierce one of its eyes. It swings its head violently and Hop clings for dear life. As afraid as he is, he’s almost grateful that at the very least he’s distracting Eternatus long enough for Victor to once more muster up the power to attack. 

His hands slip off the hilt of his sword and he’s thrown high into the air. So high his back slams against the ceiling and he falls all the way down, arms flailing, his sword and shield both lost in the process.

He lands on the ground in front of Victor with a huge smash, falling with his full weight on the ground. There’s an awful crack as he pushes himself up with his arms and sobs in pain. 

_ ‘Is this it? Are we going to die? But at least if I have to die, I did it being useful. If I have to die, at least I was able to protect everyone even for at least a few more minutes.’ _

**_-Victor can’t move this turn.-_ **

**_-Victor was hurt by his burn!-_ **

In an astounding amount of pain, Victor can hardly stop himself from hyperventilating as he watches Hop shudder and struggle to so much as sit up. It hurts so much. All of his injuries, yes, but more than anything to watch what they worked so hard for fail. 

**_-Eternatus used Dynamax Cannon!-_ **

The dragon readies what seems to be its final attack. It’s confident that this is the grand finale. Dynamax energy spins up from its stomach to its mouth. 

Hop gets up. Victor watches wide-eyed as Hop, despite everything, pushes himself to his feet and stands in front of Victor. He outstretches his arms and widens his stance.

“Victor! Get behind me!” Hop shouts. He’s in agony. His vitality is drained and he knows that if he takes this hit that he’ll surely be injured past just fainting. 

Eternatus aims at him. 

And the room fills with white light.

**_What? Hop is evolving!_ **

Eternatus is stunned and tries to turn away from the brightness, assuming it to be another incoming attack. Victor winces and closes his eyes, thinking it to be the white light people say you see when you die. 

It’s neither.

**_Congratulations! Your Wooloo has evolved into Dubwool!_ **

When the light finally dims, between the beast and the Sword hero no longer stands a Wooloo but instead a Dubwool, determined to not let his friends die. They’re relying on him! The whole  _ region  _ is! Hop may not be a Sword and Shield hero, but that doesn’t mean he can’t be his own type of hero!

**_-Victor used Behemoth Blade!-_ **

Victor’s heart leaps into his throat. He too gets to his feet. Eternatus starts to ready its Dynamax Cannon again. Hop was the first person to ever tell Victor that he and his sister didn’t need to take this mission on alone. Hop was the first person aside from Gloria to ever make him laugh since childhood. He made him feel strong. He made him feel like a person and not just a tool. And here Hop was: one hundred percent ready to die for the sake of protecting him. Tears begin to form. Victor grabs his sword and grits his teeth. He focuses every last ounce of his spirit into his sword. It sparkles blue and juts out further to his side. Hop glances over his shoulder to look.

Victor holds out the sword to Hop. 

Voice rough he croaks “Hop. It’s up to you now. Please, save us all.” Tears trickle from his eyes. Hop takes the sword from Victor’s hands, enormous and heavy, knowing that if anything could defeat Eternatus it would be this. Hop wants to throw up. He wants to bawl his eyes out and beg to see Leon just like he did their first meeting. Instead he smiles. Overflowing with courage, fingers brushing Victor’s, he says, “I won’t disappoint you, my King.”

With everything he has, with the wishes of his friends in his heart, with the responsibility of protecting the lives of who knows just how many hundreds of people, Hop storms Eternatus.

**_-Hop used Behemoth Blade!-_ **

He stabs the enormous sword right between its eyes where Victor had earlier. It dives through the flesh, tearing a huge hole in Eternatus’ head. Victor and Hop’s energy combined causes the sword to explode inside, shattering shrapnel and fire through Eternatus. 

And cracking its skull.

The Dynamax Cannon Eternatus was holding bursts through its head, sending Hop flying. He lands, skidding across the ground but still not losing consciousness. Hop and Victor look up at Eternatus. It stops yowling. Its floating body falls to the ground.

**_-The wild Eternatus was defeated!-_ **

The red light inside of Eternatus starts to fade. No more pulsating and glowing and thrashing around. No more flames or poison or Dynamax energy. Just three fainted allies and a dead dragon. 

Hop and Victor turn to each other, astonished. They’re exhausted, beaten, burned, and bloody. Grins spread across their faces. They run into each others arms, Hop knocking Victor onto the ground and their armor clanging.

“Oh my Arceus! Victor, Victor, h-holy shit, we did it! We did it, Victor!” Hop shouts, relieved tears bursting from his eyes. Victor clings to him as tightly as he possibly can.

“ _ You  _ did it Hop! I couldn’t have possibly won without you, y-you’re amazing Hop! You’re amazing!” Victor sobs.

Hop pulls away from Victor to look at his smile. “We beat Eternatus,” he breathes. He has to say it out loud. He has to register that this is real. This isn’t just him dreaming after being knocked out. This isn’t his brain fantasizing in its last moment functioning. This is  **real.**

He raises his hands and clutches both sides of Victor’s face, both of them smiling with tears pouring down their faces. 

Hop kisses him. He’s so happy, he’s so incredibly happy! Their work, the tears, the pain, it’s all been worth it! This is the happiest moment of his entire life!

The day he considered his very saddest had resulted in a mission more valuable than he ever expected his life to be worth. He met the best friends he’s ever had in his life. 

He’s found the person he needed by his side. He found the person he loves. 

**_-Victor fainted!-_ **

When Hop finally pulls away, Victor’s head drops forward, clunking his forehead against Hop’s chest.

“Victor? Hey…? Victor?” Hop asks in confusion. He lets go of Victor, climbing off of him. “Oh. He fainted. That...shouldn’t surprise me.” He laughs to himself, wiping off his tears. He looks at Eternatus’ unmoving corpse, to Victor, and back to Eternatus. He sighs contentedly before realizing his current circumstances.

Underground, almost entirely in the dark, and with four unconscious allies. 

“...” 

Hop looks down at the ground. 

“What...what now?”

The battle is over but he’s still left with a lot of work to do. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> and then hop has to drag four people up the stairs one by one despite the fact he definitely has several broken bones  
> the characters movesets are as follows  
> -hop: payback, defense curl, tackle, double-edge  
> -marnie: aura wheel, quick attack, volt switch, spark (quick attack went unused)  
> -bede: last resort, misty terrain, swift, light screen  
> -victor: behemoth blade, sacred sword, howl, hyper beam (yes zacian can learn hyper beam isn't that bonkers)  
> -gloria: behemoth bash, metal burst, metal claw, crunch  
> -eternatus: dynamax cannon, dragon pulse, flamethrower, cross poison (this is its canon moveset during its first battle)  
> they each take turns in order of who has the highest base speed  
> lets get some pogchamp in the comments for hop because he EVOLVED, KILLED ETERNATUS, AND KISSED HIS CRUSH!!!!! KING SHIT!!!!!!!!!!! even if he's a prince  
> next two chapters are gonna be quite sweet to repay you all for reading this far!! thank you so much for that!! <3  
> feel free to message me on twitter (wishfulfeline) if you ever wanna talk about this or other AUs! :D


	9. Goodbye Isn't Forever

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The heroes prepare to go to their new home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I AM SO UNBELIEVABLY SORRY that this chapter has taken sososo long to come out!!! but please don't be mad its actually because i keep getting distracted working on other fanfics i have yet to post so im creating content pinkie promise  
> hopefully you'll forgive me considering that this chapter is stupid long and super emotional   
> next chapter is the last one holy shit.......

It’s relatively some time before the five heroes are able to return to what they considered normal. Things had unquestionably been difficult in every feasible way, but their awareness of just how close to death the five of them had been made recovery moderately more tolerable. 

The delivery man could hardly believe them when they virtually begged for him to make them a trip shorter than a week for medical supplies because of how battered up they’d become. Expressing the reason for such a desperate request was surely enough to convince him to help them out. The Corviknight man was even kind enough to bring along an Audino woman and her Chansey when he brought supplies to them. The group is incredibly grateful because Arceus knows just how incorrectly their bones might have healed and their open wounds might have become infected without help. The scars are unerasable but surely will be lighter than they would be had they been if void of medical treatment. 

Hop and Gloria are more than happy to show them off as proof of their victory. Marnie and Victor are more self-conscious of them. Victor doesn’t want anyone to suspect they had struggled to win and doubt their abilities. Marnie doesn’t want Piers to fret over her and resent her friends for having a part in what inflicted the injuries on her. Bede sadly has no choice in the matter, seeing as he had gone from having two arms to one within the caste. Either way, with no one that would express concern for no reason other than what could be considered obligation he isn’t concerned with the opinions that will be formed about him over it.

Gloria and Victor are eager to venture out, finally free of the shackles binding them to the lonely castle. Their wounds are still healing and aching, but their three companions know that the King and Queen can’t possibly wait until they’re at their full strength to leave. That would take even more time than they’d already waited, covered in bandages and casts that all of them had taken off the minute that they could. Hop, Marnie, and Bede, as much as they want to be rational, can hardly contain their excitement over regaining their freedom. All of them are growing impatient. 

They pick a day. 

Decide  _ ‘fuck it’  _ and pack up nothing but the things they can’t stand to be separated from and bid temporary farewells to everything that will be left behind and await their return. 

—

“I know that we can bring most of these to Hop’s home with a separate trip, but I really want to bring some things that are the most meaningful. I’d like to give a bunch of them to people as thanks!” Gloria says, cheerfully twirling into her studio.

“You don’t owe anyone thanks. It’s much rather the opposite,” Bede reminds her. She beams at him.

“Very true! But it’s important to make a good impression, isn’t it? That and I can make it seem like I’m really grateful when people do inevitably start rewarding us,” Gloria smugly explains. Bede crosses his arms and smirks.

“That’s more like you,” Marnie affirms. It may seem mean, but she means it in the most affectionate way. 

“Oh. But I actually have gifts for you two. I...I wasn’t actually sure if I would ever give them to you two, or anyone for that matter, but I figured you might want them if I showed you?” Gloria tells the two of them, smile becoming a bit more bashful.

“For us?” Marnie parrots. Gloria drops to the floor and under one of the tables. She’s managed to keep it in decent shape after Hop spent a whole day cleaning it. Once they became friends he’d started scolding her about the fact she leaves messes behind for others to take care of constantly. It’s a work in progress. She pulls out several small canvases and dumps them out on the table when she stands, much less carefully than anyone else would.

She spreads them out into rows of three, six paintings in total. Looking at them brings her pride and an aching sense of nostalgia. Such an immense amount of change has taken place since she created each of these pieces. Her life is so different than she envisioned it would be at this point. She was alive and she wasn’t alone and now she was actually going to see far past the castle walls like she’d always dreamed of. 

Marnie and Bede step closer to her from behind and she whips around, her tail brushing past their legs as she does. She thrusts a lovingly painted canvas into each of their hands. 

“Gloria...wow. I...you painted me?” Marnie stutters, not able to look away from the painting. 

Bede smiles lovingly at the brunette. “You’re so lovely. Thank you.”   
It manages to make the ever bold Queen blush. “Of course! Why wouldn’t I paint you two? You’re my favorite things to look at, after all. As an artist it’s only fair I challenge myself to try and capture that radiance,” Gloria establishes, smiling.

“This reminds me of…” Marnie trails off.

“They’re your first impressions of us, aren’t they?” Bede finishes for her.

Gloria nods with a satisfied smugness. “Bingo! What gave it away?”   
“The way you drew me smiling,” Marnie replies.

“The fact I was in the room when you started Hop’s,” Bede retorts not quite as romantically.

Marnie stifles a giggle and Gloria laughs out loud. “I suppose so! But do you like them?”

“Of course I do. I’ll cherish it forever,” her girlfriend assures her.

Bede nods. “I’d prefer a painting of you, but I’ll accept this for now.” He winks.

Marnie hugs it to her chest. She feels so warm inside and appreciated. Once she felt that Gloria saw her as just a maid, a tool, or obedient Pokémon. Even if Gloria originally struggled at showing it, knowing that this was to express her first impression of Marnie, the Morpeko’s heart swells. Maybe from the very beginning, Gloria had felt some positive feelings towards her. Of course, Gloria had. 

Bede teases Gloria, embracing their comfort level with each other he felt so lucky to have gained, but surely feels an equal level of gratitude and happiness that Marnie has.

“Okay, now that that’s settled, let’s keep picking out things to take with us! This is just the first trip, but there are definitely things I don’t want to collect dust or wither away in our absence,” Gloria commands, hands on her hips and tail wagging confidently. 

As Bede and Marnie agree and turn to the door, Gloria glances at the paintings remaining on the table. Bea, Allister, Hop, and

Her oldest of the set, Victor.

She’d created it before they had met any of the other three. At the time, Victor was the only one she had and she was the only one he had too. A big smile. A smile she remembered so fondly then. She made the painting in memory of it. Following their parents’ death, no matter how hard she tried, she failed, again and again, to bring out the same joy she once saw on Victor’s face. So when it hurt too much to look at his stoic expression and lifeless eyes, she could look at her painting and remember when things were better. 

Finally, they were. Finally, finally, after so much suffering and loneliness, they weren’t alone. They weren’t helpless and ignored anymore. They had their own lovers and friends now. People they trusted. People who accepted them and didn’t fear them. Gloria was finally able to see Victor smile again. Hear Victor laugh and see his eyes sparkle with excitement. He was a different person than he was all that time ago, but his smile remained the same. It made up for so many of the painful memories Gloria had of him being completely despondent. 

The one she owed thanks to for returning her brother to a passionate and honest man was Hop. His painting was nothing like the way she had learned that he truly was. Their first meeting and many days following she found him to be a coward. He was annoying and a clueless crybaby. When he tried to abandon her brother who so desperately needed a companion after Allister had died and Bea had left she  _ hated  _ him. He was selfish and stupid and if it weren’t for how much Victor evidently cared for the Wooloo she would have had no regrets having killed him. 

She knew better now. Hop had only been ignorant. He wasn’t hateful or selfish, just unaware and afraid. She can’t blame him for feeling that way, what with the way he lived prior to meeting them. He had proven his worth. He had become brave. He was useful and caring. Even in the ways he fell short he kept working hard to the point that he was the one who had managed to save them all. 

She knows Victor cares deeply for Marnie and Bede. Gloria has decided that it’s only right for her to care for Hop too. The five of them needed each other. She wouldn’t leave them for the world.

_ ‘If I see Bea ever again, I’ll give her hers and Allister’s.’ _

_ ‘And it’s only right that I paint Hop again to show the type of person he really is.’ _

_ ‘Maybe with Victor?’ _

“Are you coming?” Bede asks, snapping Gloria out of her thoughts.

“Yeah, of course!” Gloria replies, rushing over, embarrassed at her airheaded behavior.

“I was feeling a little nostalgic. But I know our future is going to shine much brighter than our past!”

—

“I definitely think that we should ensure these all end up preserved somehow or are given a good new home. You and Gloria should be sure to find and keep the ones you love the most before that, though,” Hop murmurs, gliding his fingers along the spines of the books next to him as he walks through the library. 

“You should too,” Victor adds. Hop smiles to himself.

“Okay. I will. We can all go through them together,” Hop decides.

“I’d like that,” Victor says softly. 

Suddenly, Hop finds himself stopped in his tracks by Victor placing an arm right in front of him. When he turns to face Victor, the wolf puts his other arm on Hop’s other side. It’s all too familiar. Both of them immediately recall the first time Victor tried to befriend Hop in here by doing the same thing. They both remember it fondly. How very much closer they’d become since then.

**Much** closer. The small amount of space between the two reminds Hop of the last time there was even less space between them. The only thing stopping them from touching being their armor as Hop celebrated their victory by kissing Victor right on the lips. Hop feels heat rise to his face. 

“After this...can I still stay by your side?” Victor whispers softly. Hop widens his eyes. Victor looks to the side shyly, cheeks reddening.

“Of course you can. You don’t ever have to leave me. I won’t leave you either,” Hop assures him with an affectionate smile. 

Victor takes a shaky deep breath. “Even if I told you I was in love with you?”   
Hop’s heart twirls and blossoms beautifully like their moonflowers. “Especially if you told me you were in love with me.”   
Victor perks up and meets his eyes. He wags his tail absentmindedly as he can’t help but feel hopeful. “Then…?”

“I love you too, Victor. I wouldn’t have kissed you if I didn’t,” Hop confesses, looking at the person he most desired with nothing but love. 

Victor wants to start crying. He’d almost thought the kiss was just a dream, but it was real and this was real and Hop loved him. “Can I kiss you?” he whispers. 

Hop puts his hands on Victor’s chest. “Yes.”   
The brunette leans down and the indigo-haired teen tips his head back to better meet his lips. They kiss. Tentative, incredibly soft, and pure and the two of their hearts slam against their ribs so fast they can hear it. It’s only a few seconds before they break apart. Victor admires Hop’s tender expression and flushed cheeks. Before he can move Hop whispers, “Again.” Victor doesn’t hesitate. He presses his lips onto Hop’s again, gently pushing their lips together. Hop leans in more, further interlocking their lips. He curls his fingers into Victor’s shirt. They separate for a breath, but Hop doesn’t even need to ask for it when Victor kisses him a third time. He presses Hop against the bookshelf, bending one arm to cup Hop’s cheek and pull him closer. To combat their height difference Hop clings to Victor’s shoulders and rises to the balls of his feet. It’s such a sweet gesture that the two of them don’t want it to end. Thus, they continue to postpone that. 

Victor runs his hands from Hop’s cheek to run into his hair. He takes hold of one of Hop’s floppy velvety ears and strokes the inside with his thumb. Victor wags his tail excitedly when it draws a small whimper from Hop’s throat. The Dubwool wants to die of embarrassment but Victor doesn’t stop and in reality Hop didn’t want him to stop either. He swears his knees might buckle and fail him when Victor runs his tongue on Hop’s lower lip. Hop presses his tongue back and before he can even process what’s happening the two of them are kissing much deeper than before. Their tongues invade each other's mouths. Hop furrows his eyebrows hard to try and hold himself back but when Victor is kneading his ear and sucking his tongue further into his mouth he softly moans.

And at that, Hop pushes Victor away. His face is as red as a Tamato berry. “Maybe we should stop.”

Truthfully, neither of them  _ really  _ want to but it wasn’t the right time or place. The others could walk in at any second and they didn’t have as much time to mess around as they acted like they did.

“I’m really really happy, Hop,” Victor murmurs, out of breath.

Hop smiles brightly before hugging Victor and pressing his cheek to his chest. “Me too. I’m super duper happy.”

—

“I think I’m going to miss this place the most,” Hop says, staring lovingly at the garden he and Victor had first begun to bond in.

Victor stares at his feet. “Me too. This has been my passion for so long, along with sword fighting. I feel guilty abandoning it after all this time.”

Hop frowns and looks at Victor sympathetically. “Don’t be. As much as you love it here, it’s time to see the flowers outside these walls too.”

Victor forces a smile. “I know. I just...there’s at least one thing left for me to do. I’m sure Gloria has beaten me to it, but I can’t possibly leave home without saying goodbye.”

Hop stands up straighter.  _ ‘Goodbye to the garden? The Pokémon? Maybe his mother’s roses? That would certainly make sense.’  _ Victor takes Hop’s hand. His hand is cold and he clings to Hop’s like it’s the only thing keeping his from floating away. Victor leads him straight back, all the way to the very far end of the garden without a path. 

It’s unmistakable what they’re looking at. Hop tries to swallow but finds his mouth is suddenly very dry. 

“Mother. Father. Did Gloria tell you yet?” Victor says gently. Hop squeezes his hand encouragingly.

“We did it. We defeated Eternatus. We...we beat it. We finally slayed the dragon that killed you and so many others. Gloria and our friends. We—We made friends! And the five of us trained together. And we beat it. We challenged Eternatus willingly and we won! W-We—We beat it. We beat Eternatus, we won! We—We—!” Victor stammers, tears immediately blurring his vision.

Hop steps closer to Victor, hugging his arm with both of his own. Victor sniffles, trying to wipe away his tears. “You can rest in peace now, right? You don’t have to...have to worry anymore. It isn’t a threat anymore. And...and—and Gloria and I aren’t alone anymore. We’re free now. We have friends and—and maybe Gloria introduced you? She has a boyfriend and a girlfriend now!” He laughs even while tears still spill down his face. “Two lovers! Can you believe that? You probably can, right? She’s so charming but so bold. It only makes sense that when given two options she’d make a third one for herself. Marnie, a Morpeko, and Bede, a Sylveon. I’m so proud of her! You are too, right? Right? You are.”

Hop smiles at Victor, eyebrows furrowed in concern. He can’t imagine how bittersweet a goodbye this is. Certainly more bitter than it is sweet. Victor and Gloria are finally blessed with freedom while their parents are bound to this castle forever.  _ ‘The five of us can be family now too…’ _

“This is, um, this is my best friend! Um, he…” Victor starts, looking to Hop for encouragement. To his surprise, Hop speaks instead.

“I’m Victor’s boyfriend. My name is Prince Hop Knightley. I’m a Dubwool, but maybe you can already see that. Everything he’s saying is true. It’s really amazing. When I came here I couldn’t have imagined that I’d meet such wonderful people and watch them become heroes,” Hop says gently to his boyfriend’s parents. 

“Hop is a hero too!” Victor adds with determination. Hop chuckles.

“I guess that’s true too! I’m sorry that you can’t come with us physically, but with the way things are, hopefully you can somehow be happy now. Your children are thriving and I’ll make sure they stay happy and have a place to stay! Please trust in me!” Hop asks, bowing his head. 

“I love you! I miss you so much! I-I—I miss you so so so much! I miss you every single day, but I promise I’ll make you proud!” Victor wails. Hop turns to Victor as the brunette bursts into tears. He cowers, sobbing loudly. “I’m so happy, but I’m so sad too! I’ll never ever forget you!”

Hop hugs Victor tightly. He rubs his back and Victor nestles his head between Hop’s neck and shoulder and bawls his eyes out. They hold each other in front of the graves, crying and overwhelmed with several different emotions. 

Eyes red and puffy with tears, Victor pulls away to face Hop. “One more.” Hop nods even if he doesn’t understand what he means. 

A few yards away Victor stops again. “Hi Allister. It’s been a long time now, hasn’t it?” Victor pauses as if waiting for a reply that never comes. “Maybe you heard everything I said to my parents, but if you didn’t...Gloria and I found three teammates and the five of us beat Eternatus together. Amazing, right?” Tears start to form in his eyes again but he tries to blink them back.

“So we’re leaving. I really wish you could come with us. I miss you so much. I’m sure Bea does too. I promise that I’ll find her again!” Victor pledges. “The three of us will be friends forever! No—We’ll always be family! I’ll never ever forget you. You were one of my best friends. Just like Bea does, I’ll never stop trying to protect people. I swear.” 

Hop isn’t sure if it makes sense for him to talk, so he doesn’t. He listens to Victor and holds his hand. He won’t let go until Victor does or he has to. 

Victor turns to him, lips twitching as he attempts to stop frowning. “I’m okay. I’m okay,” he insists both to Hop and himself.

“You’re okay,” Hop repeats to him. Victor rubs his face roughly. He can’t force out another word as the two of them walk back towards the castle doors. 

“Wait, wait,” Victor says before they go inside. He lets go of Hop to hurry over to a few of the Pokémon in the garden. Hop smiles.  _ ‘I was sure he would say farewell to them too. I’m glad I was right.’ _

“Hop, come here,” Victor requests, waving the Dubwool over. Hop complies, squatting next to the King. A Budew happily trots up to Hop.

“Budew! Bud bud!” it greets him cheerfully. Hop pets it on the top of its head.

“This is the Budew that watched the moonflowers with us all those months ago. The one you were holding,” Victor explains. Hop looks up at him wide-eyed and then back to the Budew.

“I’m glad you’re doing well,” Hop says to the Pokémon with a smile. The Budew hops up to meet his palm again. 

“Can we? I think it would be okay, wouldn’t it?” Victor murmurs. Hop glances at him.

“Can we do what?”

“Budew, do you want to come with us to Hop’s kingdom?” Victor suddenly asks. Hop gapes at him. 

“Budewew!” it replies, practically leaping into Victor’s arms.

“I-I think that’s a yes!?” Hop says incredulously as the two of them get to their feet.

“Can I? Can I bring him?” Victor pleads eagerly. Hop pouts.

“It’s too late for you to ask me that! I think you already made up your mind on that, didn’t you?” Hop answers sternly. Victor smiles. He can’t argue with that. Hop sighs. “Yes, we can keep it. I should have expected you to ask something like this anyways.”

The two of them grin at each other and Hop knows that whatever Victor requested he’d have likely said yes. To see that handsome face cheerful he wasn’t sure what he wouldn’t do.

_ ‘We’ll definitely keep gardening, cooking, and sword fighting together when I get home. And I’ll show him everything else we can do too!’ _ Hop’s head fills with ideas of all the things he wants to show his friends once he has the chance to settle back into his home and collect his thoughts. 

—

The news had evidently traveled  _ very  _ fast following their request for a carriage big enough to carry all of them and their essentials. Eternatus had been slain? Their captives could return back to their families? Apparently  _ everyone  _ was celebrating. At first, Hop wasn’t sure just how much he believed their coachman until they actually started to  **see** some of the parties that were taking place. In the distance as they rode they could see the bright colors of decorations and lights from performers and Pokémon. The tiny figures moving about in what Hop could only assume was dancing. 

It makes Hop sick. For these people to have the audacity to celebrate an event they had no involvement in. A danger that they completely neglected to offer assistance to. They were having a party despite their cruelty towards Victor and Gloria. Hop wanted to berate whoever decided to organize such an awful thing. It was  _ selfish.  _ Yet, when he looked at Victor and Gloria, they seemed to be reacting near opposite to him. The two of them with their noses pressed up against the window with their tails wagging excitedly. 

Gloria turns to look at Bede. “Do you think that we’ll be able to go to something like that?”   
“If they don’t treat you like the Queen and hero you are then they don’t deserve your time,” Bede scoffs. He can’t help but be bitter as well. People were afraid of Victor and Gloria just like they were Eternatus. If they still feared them after their heroics he’d likely need to be held back from having an outburst. 

“I’m sure my brother and his husband will let us host one,” Marnie answers. Gloria and Victor both perk up and look at each other excitedly.

“Me too! I’ll definitely make sure everyone in Galar knows who you are and how amazing you are! I don’t think Lee will have set up any sort of party until he sees me home safe,” Hop insists with a smile. 

Victor’s Budew spins in a circle cheerfully and Victor looks like he’d do the same if they weren’t in such a small space together.

“We’re going to your castle first, right?” Bede asks Hop who promptly nods.

“We’ll definitely be able to house Victor, Gloria, and you.”

Bede blushes brightly. “Me?”

“Yeah! You will, won’t you?” Hop asks curiously. His smile is smug, however. 

Bede looks away in embarrassment. “I suppose I can remain with you for a while.”

“If you’re against it you can always stay with me,” Marnie offers, which only flusters Bede further.

“I get your point! Let me think about it!” he groans, whipping his tail back and forth in irritation. 

It manages to be...really nice. The five of them sitting together getting to talk about their plans for the near future. No more speculation and dreams, actually feasible things they could now do together. Hop’s heart feels the lightest it's been in a long time. Victor squeezes his hand.

“It’s even prettier without the walls,” Victor sighs, looking out the window as the sun slowly lowered in the sky. They’d likely arrive at twilight. 

Their carriage isn’t anything too out of the ordinary and the windows are tinted so no one walking outside seems to pay them much attention as they enter the city closest to Hop’s home. He’s happy to point things out to his friends. Where his brother’s fiance’s family lived, his favorite restaurant, the houses of people he liked a lot, just random things and naming things that the others would point out. His heart is beating so incredibly fast. It’s been  _ months  _ and now he’s actually coming home. He thought he might never see his family again, and in just a few moments he would. 

Their coachman stops in front of the castle and Hop is practically vibrating. Castle staff approach him and they talk for a moment before one of them quickly opens the door.

“Prince Hop!?” he asks, exasperated.

“Hi!” Hop answers, quickly exiting. 

“Oh, this is so wonderful, you must come inside quickly! We’ll bring all your bags inside in just a moment, don’t worry for a second about it!” the guard assures him. Hop is flustered as he’s quickly pushed up the front steps.

“But my friends are still in the carriage!?” he yelps.

“You can meet up with them again later!” Hop is told, but he doesn’t  _ want  _ that, he wants them to come with him  _ now! _

“Victor, Gloria, Bede, Marnie, follow us!” Hop shouts as loud as he can manage. 

At the sound of Hop’s voice, the extravagant front doors swing open. Between them stands Leon. The very second they see one another they run as fast as they possibly can towards each other, smashing together in a tight embrace.

“Hop! You’re home! You’re really here, I thought I might never see you again!” Leon wails, squeezing Hop so tight his spine pops.

“I’m home, I’m back Lee! I’m okay, everything is okay now!” Hop cheers. Leon lifts Hop off his feet and swings him around excitedly. The two of them laugh, so incredibly overcome with euphoria. When Leon puts Hop down the prince jumps back up to hug him just one more time. 

Leon’s eyes widen when he finally gets a second to really look at Hop. “Well would you look at that! My little bro evolved when he was gone! What were you up to that got that to happen?” He ruffles Hop’s hair.

Hop perks up excitedly. “When we were battling Eternatus! I evolved when I dealt the final blow!” he answers cheerfully.

Leon goes pale. “When  _ you  _ dealt the final blow?”

Hop confidently puts his hands on his hips. “Yeah! All five of us trained a ton together and took it on as a team! It was really really hard and I think I broke some bones, but we did it!”

Leon grabs Hop’s shoulders in horror. “The  _ five of you!?  _ Hop, are you insane!? That’s a job meant for Zacian and Zamazenta, you should have gotten as far away as you could!”

“But we’re friends,” Hop answers nervously. Then Leon looks up. Behind Hop, slowly coming up the stairs are Victor, Gloria, Bede, and Marnie.

Leon leaps into the air and  _ hides behind Hop.  _ Hop just smiles and ushers the four over. “I think reintroductions are in order, right?”

Leon’s eyes dart from his brother to the others and back and forth again. “These are your  _ friends?”  _

Hop rolls his eyes. “Yeah. My boyfriend, too.” 

Leon thinks he might have a heart attack. It’s so jarring to see the five together with expressions so incredibly different than they did before. Gloria smiling genuinely, so intention to intimidate, swaying on her heels, absolutely elated to be out in the world. Victor smiling timidly, holding his Budew in his arms. Bede with an arm around Gloria’s waist with a smirk of amusement. Marnie holding Gloria’s hand and expression serene. And Hop, with no terror in their presence, looking at the four that he now considers his three closest friends and boyfriend.

“Guys, this is my brother Lee!” Hop says, gesturing at his older brother who waves halfheartedly.

“We all know that,” Bede retorts. Gloria elbows him. 

“Lee, this is Bede, Gloria, Marnie, and Victor! You’ve seen them all before but you never learned their names.” One by one they each shake Leon’s hand, each of them firm and determined to make a good impression.

“I know Gloria and Victor were really scary when you met them the first time, but I swear they’re wonderful people even if they’re kind of weird!” Hop insists. Gloria cackles in response and Victor hides his face behind Budew as he desperately holds in his own laughter. 

“He’s right. We are pretty out of the ordinary. I hope you’ll be patient with us,” Victor says after composing himself. 

“If you aren’t I really won’t forgive you!” Hop informs Leon. 

Leon clears his throat. “I suppose that’s it then, isn’t it? Will they be staying the night?”

“Yep! It’d be pretty cruel to just send them out with nowhere to stay, you know?” Hop says. Leon raises his eyebrows.

“We’ve only ever lived in that empty castle our whole lives, Victor and I. Now that Eternatus is dead we want to try and live with others again. We don’t know much about how things work around here, but I’m looking forward to learning it all,” Gloria explains. Leon’s mouth feels dry hearing the girl who months ago tried to kill him being so nice.

“I’m the younger sister of Piers, Raihan’s consort. I’ll leave it up to Bede and Gloria where the two of them decide to stay in the long run, but for at least a short while until we get a little readjusted to normal life we’d appreciate if we could remain here,” Marnie says, voice steady. 

“Piers and Raihan? We’re good friends, those two and I!” Leon declares excitedly. He’s sure the two of them will be over instantly when they hear Marnie is with him. 

Marnie nods and gives Bede an affirmative nod.

“It’s up to you if you’ll accept me to stay here, but I think it’s most likely I’ll at least be remaining in your kingdom,” Victor adds politely. Leon squints at him.

Hop abruptly pipes up with, “Victor is my boyfriend.” 

Leon sighs in exasperation. This is an insane amount of information being flung at him all at once. His brother faced Eternatus along with Zacian and Zamazenta—no, Victor and Gloria plus their other servants, a Sylveon named Bede and a Morpeko named Marnie. Hop is friends with all of them and even dating one of the legendary wolves; the male one, even. And now they’re going to be staying with him in his home for who knows how long and even once they leave they’ll still be nearby. If he doesn’t come to terms with all of this quickly, his brother will certainly be frustrated at him. 

“All of you, come inside. Our staff will help you with your things and serve you dinner. But tomorrow morning, you  _ must  _ explain all of this to me,” Leon sighs. Hop gives him another hug with a joyful shout. The other four react similarly enthusiastically. As flabbergasted as he is, Leon thinks that if Hop trusts these four after spending months with them, regardless of how strong and dangerous they are, they can’t be entirely bad people.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> how i wish i was a budew


End file.
